Chautauqua Institution 2022
Expanding the Season; Education at Your Fingertips Via Online Classes in March
By Jessica Miller
The internationally acclaimed Chautauqua Institution (1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722 – https://chq.org) has ambitious summer activity plans to enrich and entertain. This cultural hub has earned a well-deserved reputation as a host of politicians, orchestras, religious leaders, dance companies, visual arts exhibits, and musicians that draw in the curious and viewers already in the know. Warmer and longer days make Chautauqua Institution an inviting venue during summer months, but March also promises high-quality classes from Institution luminaries—all from the comfort of home.
Maestro Rossen Milanov hosts The Art of Listening with Rossen Milanov on March 2 inside Chautauqua’s Classroom. Attendees will learn the skills of actively listening to music and how to answer musical questions. These skills will enable students to understand and gain a more complete appreciation of the musical experience. Milanov is the Music Director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. His versatility as a conductor is especially recognized in ballet and operatic performances; these expressive styles especially require skilled direction. While pupils will gain a substantial awareness of musical storytelling, students need no prior musical knowledge to participate in, or enjoy this lesson.
While the month-long poetry workshop ‘Endings – The Possibilities of Poetic Closure’ began on February 26, enrollment is available for the March 5, 12, 19, and 26 sessions led by Monica Sok. Participants will explore closure in various poems and the techniques used in each example that led to the lingering impact of the poet’s words. Sok’s own poetry has been published in renowned publications including The Nation, American Poetry Review, POETRY, and The Paris Review. She is a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University and teaches poetry in Oakland, California at the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants. Enrollment is $135 for the series.
There are also classes hosted by Chautauqua Institution available on-demand at any convenient time for learners. Jon Schmitz, Archivist and Historian for the Chautauqua Institution, has two courses for fellow historians to refine their own hobby practice. The first, ‘How to Use Archives’, educates students on the importance of archives and their historic research value. ‘Records Preservation’, Schmitz’s second class, is especially relevant to genealogists or club record keepers who wish to preserve relevant clippings, documents, or certificates. Each course costs $69 for enrollment.
‘Reading Photographs’ is another asynchronous course and is taught by Emálee Sanfilippo. She is locally known as an Assistant Archivist at Chautauqua Institution, a speaker for the Chautauqua Heritage Lecture Series, and as a manager for Chautauqua Research Services. Sanfilippo teaches her students how to analyze photographs and develop visual literacy to apply in both historic and contemporary photographic analysis. This course can be taken for $49.
As Zoom meetings and classes have become ubiquitous, it is only natural that Chautauqua Institution provides lectures, trainings, and lessons consistent with their mission. The weather may not be hospitable to area residents pursuing culture and skill development, but the institution’s marketplace of online classes certainly is. Prospective students can enroll for these and upcoming classes online at learn.chq.org.