August 10, 2026

Another Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra season is in the books. We had our final concert Monday night. The 2026 Conducting Fellow Michelle Bushkova drew a spirited and stylish performance of Manuel de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat Suite 2 from the players. I wrapped things up with Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, so kind of an orchestral blowout program and a great way to wrap up the season.
 
As usual, the festival flew by. It’s always intense but also re-energizing. A lot of that has to do with the musicians themselves. The finest conservatory and college-age students in the country is a rather luxurious cohort with whom to make music.
 
This was also my 30th season with the MSFO. In retrospect, my time at CHQ and my times with each year’s orchestra have been joyous.  This is an orchestra that changes personnel every year, so after 3 decades, over 2400 people have sat in those seats. That means there is a large group of these fine musicians now occupying other seats in orchestras all across the country and beyond our borders. For me, that means every time I’m on a guest-conducting engagement, I run into an MSFO alum or two. I love that.
 
It's also rewarding to see them show up in the papers, on concert stages, on the radio, TV or Spotify. They are out there, bringing music to the world and finding a fulfilling life path for themselves.
 
Because the MSFO is embedded in the greater Chautauqua Institution, a summer humanities-rich community of some 10,000 people, an experience here is very different from other music festivals. Our students experience not just great music making, but they also witness how music can interact with a community in nearly ideal circumstances, a model that shapes the advocacy and leadership roles they assume in the communities they go on to serve.
 
Another very important part of my CHQ experience has been overseeing the David Effron Conducting Fellowship. The fellowship was established and ultimately endowed by Chautauquan Kay Logan 30 years ago (my first year at CHQ) to honor David Effron who held my position immediately prior. Coincidentally, Mr. Effron was also my conducting teacher at the Eastman School.
 
The fellowship allows one highly-gifted conducting student, selected from an international pool of talent, to work as my assistant and study with me here in the summer. They perform multiple works with the orchestra over that time. They also get great exposure to other arts leaders in the community, gaining experience, insight and developing connections that can help guide their career paths.
 
Through this fellowship, I have had the privilege of getting to know and work with a very special group of people who are now out there bringing music to the world. It’s been exciting to watch their careers blossom and know that they take a bit of CHQ with them as they go. Many have become life-long friends in the process.
 
It has also been interesting to observe and be a part of the Institution’s evolution over the years.  A place always dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values, I have seen it grow from something of an anachronistic curiosity to now a powerful, and much needed force for good in this world. There have been good times and bad, joy and sadness, but an overall impressive trajectory towards relevance and impact in a way unique to Chautauqua.
 
It's been quite a run, and I look forward to what the coming years have in store.  
 
NEXT UP
 
September 14, 2026
Corbett Auditorium
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
Cincinnati, Ohio
 
Jared MILLER              House of Dreams
PROKOFIEV                 Piano Concerto No. 3
RACHMANINOFF         Symphony No. 3
 
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