Upcoming Events

The 2026 Festival opens with a once-in-a-generation violinist: Himari, a 14-year-old phenomenon who has already collected substantial awards and recognition, performs Sibelius’s Concerto for Violin, full of Nordic snow and moody skies. Just as Sibelius invokes his native Finland, Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fifth Symphony is infused with Russian colors. Composer Carter Pann also unveils a brand new piece of music to celebrate the start of the Festival season.

The 2026 Festival opens with a once-in-a-generation violinist: Himari, a 14-year-old phenomenon who has already collected substantial awards and recognition, performs Sibelius’s Concerto for Violin, full of Nordic snow and moody skies. Just as Sibelius invokes his native Finland, Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fifth Symphony is infused with Russian colors. Composer Carter Pann also unveils a brand new piece of music to celebrate the start of the Festival season.

Music Director Peter Oundjian helms one of music’s grandest spectacles: Holst’s The Planets. From the hammering “Mars, the Bringer of War” to the ethereal “Neptune, the Mystic,” this seven-planet suite lures the heavens into Chautauqua Auditorium. Electrifying pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninoff’s dreamy Second Piano Concerto. This monumental program begins with the world premiere by Leigha Amick, a composer who aims “to spark intellectual curiosity and express human experience.”

Music Director Peter Oundjian helms one of music’s grandest spectacles: Holst’s The Planets. From the hammering “Mars, the Bringer of War” to the ethereal “Neptune, the Mystic,” this seven-planet suite lures the heavens into Chautauqua Auditorium. Electrifying pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninoff’s dreamy Second Piano Concerto. This monumental program begins with the world premiere by Leigha Amick, a composer who aims “to spark intellectual curiosity and express human experience.”

Audiences raved about pianist Michelle Cann’s Festival debut in 2023; now Cann returns to Chautauqua to perform the world premiere of a piano concerto by esteemed composer Valerie Coleman. After intermission, Berlioz invites us on a psychedelic romp: his Symphonie Fantastique is a musical hallucination that evokes dark revels, an execution, and a visit to the underworld.

Audiences raved about pianist Michelle Cann’s Festival debut in 2023; now Cann returns to Chautauqua to perform the world premiere of a piano concerto by esteemed composer Valerie Coleman. After intermission, Berlioz invites us on a psychedelic romp: his Symphonie Fantastique is a musical hallucination that evokes dark revels, an execution, and a visit to the underworld.