June 28, 2020 – Seventeenth Annual Platform Lecture (Postponed)

Dr. Sarah Bell: 19th & 20th Century Women’s Political Activities seen through the Lens of the Chautauqua Movement

7:30 PM, Chautauqua Town Hall

This event was cancelled last year, and we are pleased to reschedule it.

Dr. Sarah Bell is the Membership Coordinator for the Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence, Kansas.  Her history Ph.D degree was conferred by Kansas University in May 2019.

She will speak on women’s political aspirations and activities in the late 19th and 20th centuries as seen through the lens of the Chautauqua movement.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution to provide the vote to women so her topic is timely indeed.

July 5, 2020 – Third Annual Lawn Party (Postponed)

2:00 to 4:00 PM, Donnelly Pavillion

We hope our Lawn Party will appeal to all Chautauquans of all ages.

Dress in the Victorian or Edwardian fashion. White is the color of the afternoon.

Plan to play shuffleboard, croquet, badminton and other lawn games.

Light refreshments will be served.

July 10, 2020 – Young Musicians Series (Postponed)

Eli Pandolfi, French Horn

with Victoria Drexler, French Horn, and Vera Parkin, Keyboard

7:30 PM, Piasa Bluffs Auditorium

As a high school student, Eli Pandolfi was a principal with the Saint Louis Youth Symphony Orchestra.

In May 2020, he graduated from the Manhattan School of Music and has accepted a fellowship with the New World Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Please join us and enjoy an evening with this remarkably talented young man.

Illinois COVID-19 Guidelines apply.

July 19, 2020

Dr. George Provenzano:  James Semple in Elsah and Alton, Prairie Entrepreneur

7:00 PM, Piasa Bluffs Auditorium

Economic historian and local history scholar Dr. George Provenzano will speak on James Semple, Prairie Entrepreneur.

Semple is representative of a group of Illinois men,including Abe Lincoln, who bounced from activity to activity, in and out of politics, until finally finding their callings.

The founder of the village of Elsah, Semple was a lawyer, army general, state representative, inventor, ambassador, and United States Senator.

Yet, until settling in Elsah, Semple was not particularly successful.

Dr. Provenzano’s presentation will include new insights gained from research in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield.

August 9, 2020

Dr. Richard Keating:  Postcards from the Past (Postponed)

7:30 PM, Kupferle Chapel

Naturalist and storyteller Dr. Richard Keating will share and discuss historic postcards.

August 30, 2020 – The 14th Annual Young Musicians Series

7:00 PM, Auditorium

Two stellar young musicians will collaborate for this year’s program.

Eli Pandolfi, a French hornist, graduated in May from the Manhattan School of Music, and has been accepted as a Fellow to the New World Symphony Orchestra, in Miami, under the direction of internationally famous Michael Tilson Thomas.

Angel Riley, soprano, from Belleville, Illinois, is a recent Master of Music graduate from UCLA. Riley was selected to be the Gerdine Young Artist for the Opera Theater of St. Louis 2020 Festival Season. Sadly, COVID-19 intervened and the Season was cancelled. Our Young Musicians Series will provide a stage for her talent.

Vera Parkin will accompany them on keyboard.

The Auditorium is a fine venue for current circumstances. Invite friends and family. COVID-19 protocols are to be observed.