Art drives Chautauqua in ways other communities and organizations only dream of, and early Sunday evening, the Institution thanked those who help make the full range of artistic and programmatic offerings found on the grounds possible.
Timothy Muffitt’s not running the 4×4 relay, but he’s passing the baton this evening — his conducting baton, that is….
Three Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra members will discuss the various aspects of practicing and why it is an important part of a musician’s development during the last Symphony Partners Brown Bag lecture of the 2013 Season at 12:15 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall.
Uriel Segal hopes that no one throws rotten tomatoes or eggs at him tonight as he conducts Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. It’s been 13 years since Segal — who retired in 2007 as CSO music director, a position he held for 18 years — conducted the piece’s Chautauqua Institution premiere. No one threw rotten food last time, Segal said, but the history of the piece’s 1913 premiere in Paris — including some emotionally charged riots — has made The Rite of Spring infamous.
At 12:15 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall, the Walking Girl Quartet will show audiences that it’s possible to be good friends, play music and have fun — all at the same time.
Vahn Armstrong, Diane Bruce, Eva Stern and Jolyon Pegis walked out of Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. It was a humid Wednesday afternoon, just after 12:30 p.m. They had rehearsed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for three and a half hours. That evening, they would rehearse again. They were tired, they were hungry — yet they loved what they were doing.
“When I was a little kid, I played the violin, because I was too small to play the cello,” Jolyon Pegis said. “The first time I heard the cello, that was the instrument that I wanted to play. The quality of the register just appealed to me.”
Pegis, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra’s assistant principal cellist, will lead his guest artist recital from 4 to 5:30 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall.
“Honestly, I don’t think there is anything easy about playing a string instrument,” Pegis said. “Developing your ear is hard. It’s a long and time-consuming process.”
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