Chautauqua Institution today announced that Jay Lesenger, general/artistic director of Chautauqua Opera Company, will step down from his post at the end of 2015. Lesenger has led Chautauqua Institution’s resident opera company, the nation’s oldest continuously producing summer company — and fourth oldest American opera company overall — since October 1994. “When Jay arrived here, he faced the daunting task of reinvigorating the passion in and for opera at CHQ,” said Marty Merkley, vice president and director of programming. “Jay’s artistry, passion and personal charisma helped to bring about a renaissance with vibrant productions, exciting artists, diverse repertoire and quality production values. His dedication...

Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of Deborah Sunya Moore as vice president responsible for all arts programming at CHQ, effective Oct. 1, 2015. Moore succeeds Marty W. Merkley, who announced earlier this month that he will retire following the 2015 season, his 25th at CHQ. “I am excited about the development of our arts programming at CHQ under Deborah’s leadership,” said Tom Becker, president of Chautauqua Institution. “She understands at a very high level the intersection between art and education. I believe that she will embrace this challenge in a way that is at once creative and expressive of...

Chautauqua Institution today announced that Marty W. Merkley, vice president and director of programming, will retire from his post at the end of September 2015. Always referring to his work at CHQ as that of “facilitator,” Merkley is a beloved public figure on the grounds, responsible for much of the programming the Institution stages each summer. In his 25 years of visionary leadership, Merkley has seen the Institution through a major expansion in the breadth and quality of its artistic programming, with an emphasis on inter-arts collaboration. He joined the CHQ staff as director of programming in 1991 and was appointed...

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Calling its Amphitheater project “too important to the Institution’s mission not to get it right,” Chautauqua Institution President Tom Becker recommended today to the Institution’s board of trustees that “decisions on proceeding with the Amphitheater development project be deferred to the Board’s August 2015 meeting.” The later approval will likely mean a delay in the start of construction on the Amphitheater until the fall of 2016.

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Nov. 18, 2014 — Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and Annie Gosfield are just one of 12 orchestras and composers who have been selected to receive Music Alive: New Partnerships grants of $7,500 each from the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. Matching composers and orchestras who have not previously worked together, the program will support a series of one-week residencies between 2014 and 2016, each culminating in the performance of an orchestral work from the composer’s catalog. Orchestras with operating budgets of approximately $7 million and below were eligible to apply. “CHQ is proud to be...