(church bells ringing) - [Michael] Lake Chautauqua.

A summer on the water, scenic beauty, handsome homes, the small town feeling.

- The place is so beautiful here and kids need to be in a place that they can think.

(graceful piano music) - [Michael] A place to think about their art and their future.

(singing in foreign language) - There is nothing else quite like this anywhere.

- [Michael] You're about to meet the best and brightest young performers from around the world.

(intense orchestral music) - We attract top-notch talent here and we give them a top-notch experience.

- [Michael] Carefully chosen to attend the Chautauqua School of Performing Arts and music festival.

It's an intense summer program where they sharpen already impressive skills in voice, dance, music, and more.

(heavy orchestral music) - It's a joy to basically work with aspiring musicians who are on the cusp of being professional.

- I'm here to learn.

I'm here to grow.

- [Michael] And they will grow.

- Let the sautille just happen.

- [Michael] Under the guidance of accomplished teachers, mentors.

- There is one thing about all of these students.

They all wanna play well.

- [Sarkis] Tendu, one and two.

- I feel like the experience performing, it really brings out the best in you.

(Sarkis speaks in foreign language) - We're ready to eat.

Come on in, get a plate, and help yourself.

- [Michael] And you will see how this lakefront community supports and celebrates these aspiring young artists.

- They move into a community of people who live on these grounds that are affirming their choice as artists.

(cheerful orchestral music) - It's been a damn good investment for us.

We take great pride in it.

We love seeing the students.

Their faces are so filled with excitement, expectations, promise.

(upbeat orchestral music) - [Michael] It's called the finest program of its kind in the country.

(upbeat orchestral music) In the perfect setting, state-of-the-art, and serene, intense, nurturing, and beautiful lake Chautauqua, where these young people are charting a life in the arts.

- [Marlena] What better education for what they want to do?

(active orchestral music) (audience applauds) - I am a violinist.

I started playing when I was three years old.

I don't remember a time where I was never playing the violin.

We've grown up together.

I'm here to learn.

I'm here to grow.

I'm working with my colleagues and already kind of have their foot in the door in the professional life.

These are probably people that I'll be working with in the far future or near future, and it's exciting to meet them now when we're all learning together and having fun.

(active orchestral music) - Good.

Not too high, arms.

Little bit lower.

Yes.

And plie one.

- [Colby] Ballet, it's very fun.

I really like it because it's just so athletic.

- Plie one and two.

- [Colby] Really, it's very musical which I like a lot about it.

- [Sarkis] Come back, seven, tendu, second.

- [Colby] I'll just become a better dancer and person.

- [Christina] I've tried a lot of different summer programs but I find that this one is the whole experience.

You get to perform.

You get great training.

And you're also in such a beautiful place that you get to experience life a little bit.

(vocalizing) - It's my first year at Chautauqua Institute.

Every objective that I have this year as a singer, I can really achieve them here.

(piano rings) (vocalizes) - I'm singing both operas.

Having coachings with one of the greatest coach of United States.

(singing in foreign language) And I'm having lessons from Marlena, which is like a blessing for my career.

Everybody knows Marlena Malas, every singer.

What she's doing, she's helping me to reveal my voice, I think.

- [Michael] With their goals in mind, in the hopes of fulfilling their dreams, these young performers are about to plunge into a concentrated summer of learning at one of the best and most historic music schools in the country.

(orchestral music) (crowd cheering) In the western part of Upstate New York not far from Jamestown lies a natural body of water.

17 miles long, two miles wide, the Iroquois named it Chautauqua.

Today.

It's a popular vacation spot for fishing, relaxing, and fun.

- There's a great deal of recreation.

There's lots of sailing competition on the weekends.

People learn to swim here.

There's a lot of fishing that goes on here, so normal lake activities are indeed part of the experience.

- [Michael] It's also home to the storied Chautauqua Institution, a place that celebrates and fosters lifelong learning.

- It creates an atmosphere for reflection and for internal dialogue, as well as a setting in which off of the hillside from the lake are places like the amphitheater and Lenna Hall and the Hall of Philosophy and in with music and art and conversational dialogue and worship services and other sorts of things are going on in this cacophonous kind of way all day, every day.

(cheerful flute music) - [Michael] During the late 1800s, Ohio Businessman Lewis Miller and Minister John Heyl Vincent were both active in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

They founded Chautauqua as a teaching camp for Sunday school teachers.

- They were both completely devoted to education and they lived in a time, 1874, when a lot of people left school at a very early age.

And many of them, their only access to continuing education was in Sunday schools.

Many of the teachers in the Sunday school environment really had no education themselves.

WHat they were trying to do is to say there's history, there's mathematics, there's science, there's geography, there's all of this that we need to be constantly imbuing ourselves with and challenging ourselves to better understand the world we live in so that we might live a more reverent life.

- [Michael] And those ideals grew into a unique place where more than 100,000 summer visitors come to rejuvenate in the arts, education, religion, and recreation.

- The founders never intended for this place to be an alternative to other ways of living, but rather in service to the way we live our lives outside of Chautauqua's seasons.

Good morning, and welcome to the opening ceremony.

- [Michael] As is the tradition, the president of the Chautauqua Institution, Tom Becker, ceremoniously opens the season.

- I tap the gavel three times.

(gavel pounding) Chautauqua 2013 has begun.

- [Michael] And so begins the nine-week season.

Hundreds of programs and presentations included, with topics ranging from social issues to literary arts.

- Chautauquan Daily.

- [Michael] The day starts early at Chautauqua.

Mornings are filled with meditation, prayer, and religious services.

By mid-morning, visitors quickly fill up the historic amphitheater for the popular 10:45 lecture.

Here, they listen to such notables as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, New York Times Columnist David Brooks, - I think is a pretty Yankee upbringing.

- [Michael] Celebrated Author Margaret Atwood.

- So there I was interacting with Berlin culture.

- [Michael] Throughout the day, visitors can choose from a variety of programs happening almost every hour into the evening.

And part of this nine-week season is a fascinating opportunity for young artists.

It starts early on a Saturday morning.

- In program?

- Piano.

- Yeah.

- Did we go filling out the form?

- I think I did online.

- I can help you over here.

- [Michael] Young musicians, dancers, vocalists are checking in, getting their room assignments and orientation packages.

- Hi.

- Hi, how are you?

- Good, thanks.

What's your name?

- I'm Christina Clark.

- [Michael] Among them are Christina and Colby Clark with their parents from New York City.

- They think a lot about what to do for the summer programs, and there are a lot of choices in the country and they keep coming back to this one.

- I also love that it's a small program.

I think that the teachers really get to know the individual child both as a dancer and just who they are.

- [Michael] The Clarks children are among 150 students attending the Chautauqua School for Performing Arts coming from all over the world to learn from the masters and each other.

- Tyler Smith, I'm Susan.

- Nice to meet you.

- Welcome.

Yes.

- [Michael] At registration, the students are given their Chautauqua connection sponsors.

- You'll meet her five o'clock at the picnic.

- [Michael] Susan Helm helps run the program.

- We match up the students with people in the community and it's lots of fun.

And you have Chris Anderson for your connection.

- [Michael] The sponsors become friends to the students, help provide respite from their work, and become fans by attending performances.

- We have this year connected all but one of the dancers, voice students, orchestra students, piano students, and the Chautauquan daily interns.

- There is nothing else quite like this anywhere.

There are many festivals in the summertime.

There are many orchestras, there are many opera, there are chamber music, all of these things, but none of them focus on the breadth of the programming that we do.

- His name's Marty Merkley and he is the vice-president and director of programming.

(crowd applauds) - Good morning, everyone.

Good morning, everyone.

We are very glad that you are here.

That means I'm in charge of all of the visual and performing arts that talk of both the educational and professional, and I run all the venues and hire the staffs.

- [Michael] From the beginning, music was an integral part of the mission.

In the early years, the New York Symphony was the featured orchestra here.

By 1928, the institution formed its own orchestra, The Chautauqua Symphony.

Next came an opera company, then a dance company, followed by a theater program.

These professional programs, still here, opened the doors for students to come and study.

(high-energy orchestral music) Evolving into the elite educational program it is today.

- We have our Schools of Fine and Performing Arts.

In the School of Music, you have the instrumental program which includes the Music School Festival Orchestra.

You have the piano program.

(singing in foreign language) - [Marty] You have the voice program, and in the dance, you have the School of Dance.

- [Michael] And in those schools, the students will have a chance to work with renowned masters and performers.

Competition to get in is intense.

- They audition to be in all of these programs.

For instance, in the dance program, we will audition up to a thousand students to participate in the total of 75 opportunities.

75 students come here, some for three weeks, some for four weeks, some for five weeks, so it's a very competitive school.

- [Michael] The Chautauqua dance program is a summer program for the exceptional dancer who wants to pursue ballet professionally.

- It's really one of the best program in the country, so when they come here, they expect a lot.

They really expect to progress.

They expect that they're going to be challenged.

(cheerful orchestral music) - Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux formed the School of Dance in 1989.

He danced for the New York City Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine.

He's also the artistic director of the North Carolina School of Dance.

His faculty is often influential in placing young talent in professional companies.

- I love to work with young dancers even being student or being professionals.

It's a pleasure.

I feel that I've learned a lot, and it's nice for me to pass it on to dancers, so one day I will see them on stage and I would be proud of them and I would feel that I have done a little something to help.

- And then what we'd like you to know is the very first week is very slow.

- [Michael] Glenda Lucena and Sarkis Kaltakhtchian are two of a dozen teachers in the School of Dance.

- And we'd just work hard together.

- [Michael] They focus on technique, style, and character.

- Plie, good.

- [Michael] The school offers three levels of skill.

For younger students, the programs are shorter.

Older students may study up to seven weeks with the top level becoming festival dancers.

That means they'll be performing in front of discerning Chautauqua audiences.

- What I think is most important to achieve, it's really give them confidence in themself because there's lots of competition, you know?

And so if you can give them that confidence, that will carry them through being a professional dancer, eventually.

I think that's the best thing we can do.

- [Sarkis] One, arm and leg together.

- [Michael] Students like Colby and Christina are veterans here.

She's 15 and is in her fourth year.

He is 12, and back for the third summer.

Outside of Chautauqua, they've already performed in professional productions at Lincoln Center with the New York City Ballet.

- Many things, but mainly "The Nutcracker," the "Romeo and Juliet," "Swan Lake," stuff like that.

("A Little Night Music" by Wolfgang Mozart) - [Michael] Colby is in workshop one.

At the end of his two-week program, there's a recital.

What do you do here?

Why do you come here?

- [Colby] First of all, it's really great ballet training, and second of all, you're so independent.

You get to do whatever you want.

It's great.

It's really fun.

- We've been fortunate enough to have a nice little group of young men that have come for the three summers now, and it's really exciting to see their progress.

Passe three and... - [Michael] Kathryn Moriarty has been teaching here since 1999.

Her training includes the Australian Ballet School and she was a principal dancer with Milwaukee Ballet.

- And now pass through the passe, get there.

- [Michael] As the primary instructor for workshop one, Kathryn says it's a rigorous program.

- Two weeks doesn't sound like a lot, but for a young child at that age, it's a lot of work.

They're in the studio all day.

They work very hard, and the guys, especially, it's so much fun to see them run out of class, put their bike helmets on, and pedal away with more energy.

I don't know where they get the energy to do it, but they're really enjoying it, but extremely serious- - [Sarkis] Three, four.

- [Kathryn] when they're in the studio.

They're on their mark.

They know exactly what they're doing, They're goal-oriented.

They want to be professional dancers, and that's what they come here for.

- [Michael] Colby is 12 years old.

- [Kathryn] Yes.

- [Michael] What are you seeing in him?

- [Kathryn] We see a very directed, goal-oriented, mature, young dancer who understands how to work, understands how to use his corrections in performance, as well as in class.

Someone whose obvious goal is to be a principal dancer with New York City Ballet.

And we're trying to help him achieve that goal.

- [Glenda] Nice and deep plie.

Good.

First and stretch.

- [Michael] His sister, Christina, has a goal, too.

She's been coming to Chautauqua to dance since she was 11.

And this year, she's dancing at the festival level.

(cheerful orchestral music) She'll not only perform in two student galas, but also in the amphitheater with the Music School Festival Orchestra in front of 4,000 people.

(upbeat orchestral music) - [Michael] Do you want to be a ballerina star?

- Yeah.

- You do?

- [Christina] I do.

- [Michael] When you first come to Chautauqua, you just checked in, you just registered.

What's it like the first couple of days?

- The first couple of days at any camp are you're settling in and everything, but Chautauqua makes you feel the most at home.

Out of everything, I feel right at home here.

It's my home away from home, really.

(soft orchestral music) - One of the things that the dancers like the best about coming here is live performance with orchestra.

They like the atmosphere of Chautauqua.

They like the comfort it gives them to be within their small community, to be around other artists, musicians, singers, actors.

- [Christina] You get to perform, you get great training, and you're also in such a beautiful place that you get to experience life a little bit.

- Good morning.

Welcome.

- [Student] How are you?

- We are just top over here.

How about you?

Welcome back.

- [Michael] Oliver Dow is a busy man.

He's the managing director of the Chautauqua School of Music and the music festival.

- Many of you applied back in January to be here.

By the fact that you're here, you obviously made the cut.

So, congratulations.

- [Michael] He has the daunting task of putting together all of the programming, rehearsals, lessons, and performances.

- Over the next five to seven weeks, I have little doubt that most of you, if not all of you, will come to recognize that Chautauqua Institution is an exceptional place for your studies, but it's also gonna provide you exceptional opportunities that are unrivaled in any other music summer program.

(audience applauds) I am still working on "Don Giovanni's" synopsis.

Then, we are going to get together our programs for the next five days.

This is the hub, the music office where we basically coordinate and schedule the curriculum that we've been working on for nine months in the off-season.

And now is it comes to the point where we press the go button.

- All right, good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome.

It's great to have you here.

- [Michael] The Music School Festival Orchestra, like the School of Dance, is another highly sought-after program, but it wasn't always so.

(aggravated orchestral music) - Ta ti, ba ba, ta ti.

So that 32nd note stands on its own, ba ba.

- What I've seen in 15 years or so, in Chautauqua, we, at times, had to scrabble, maybe, to find the extra violin to fill out the 24-violin section of an orchestra.

Now, in the last 10 years, five years, particularly, since we've got first-rate faculty that students want to come and study with, we don't have as many places as the applications.

Now we're gonna take them, direct them, bring them to a place where we can refine and hone their skills and really help them make a transition perhaps into making music a part of their careers.

- Even though there's that big space, it needs to have the sense of anticipation.

There's no place like it.

It's one of these situations where the workload is unimaginable, but when it's all over, there's this feeling of rejuvenation.

It's a place that gives back as much and more than you actually put into it.

And the articulation here is a gentle one.

- [Michael] Timothy Muffitt is principal conductor for the festival's symphony.

He's also the music director and conductor for the Baton Rouge and Lansing Symphonies.

- The Music School Festival Orchestra is made up of students from age 17 through graduate school.

Our basic policy is that as long as they're enrolled full-time in school, they can come.

- [Michael] And they do come from all over the country and the world, China, Japan, and Australia.

The competition is fierce and the work is hard.

(jubilant orchestral music) - [Timothy] The students who come here are really ready to go.

They're ready to give 150% and I'm ready to give 150%, and that's a good combination.

The one bump might be that the amount of work that we do.

So, Monday night, we do a concert and then often, Tuesday morning, we're rehearsing for the next program.

Next, major 4, 31.

So look at 34, we're going to stretch a touch here.

(relaxed orchestral music) - What I hope to do with our orchestra rehearsals is take these young musicians, these very, very gifted young musicians, as they come in and give them a set of experiences that will make them more viable in the professional world.

(relaxed orchestral music) - The ingredients to successful summer program is a three-fold equation.

It's having good faculty, it's having good facilities, and you've got to have a robust scholarship program, financial aid program.

- [Michael] About 90% of students who come here receive some financial assistance.

- [Timothy] And solo bow for the cello.

- [Oliver] Clearly, at times, there are people that you really, really spot of exceptional talent and should be given the chance to go on and explore their art.

(anxious orchestral music) - [Michael] Ade Williams is from Chicago and has that exceptional talent.

At 16, she's one of the youngest musicians here.

- It's fantastic.

We've played three concerts, orchestra concerts.

The last one, I have to say, was my favorite.

I've played in a student recital, solo.

(active orchestral music) I just played in a chamber concert, our first chamber concert.

(active orchestral music) - [Michael] For Ade, the lessons started early.

- Three and a half.

(laughs) We wanted to start at two, but the music teacher in town said, "No, I don't understand how to teach a two-year-old.

Come back next year."

(soft orchestral music) - [Michael] Janice Miller had good reason for getting her daughter in the lessons at a young age.

There's music in the family.

- [Janice] My parents gave me and my two sisters piano and ballet and tap and all of that kind of stuff, acrobatics, and so the arts are kind of what you do.

(violins thrumming) - [Michael] So Ade, with her younger cousin, Mira Williams, started violin lessons.

- [Janice] They're doing their first "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" outdoor concert, and Ade's little instrument and tiny bow, went on forever on that last note and her enjoyment and savoring of that moment was the telling moment.

It's like, oh boy, we got a live one here.

She likes this thing.

Let's do it.

("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star") - She looked at my teacher and she was like, "Okay, we gotta keep her.

She loves it."

I noticed that that's what I wanted to do when I was around six, when I had my first orchestral debut with the Chicago Sinfonietta.

- Ade and her cousin, Mira, who's also here at Chautauqua, continue to develop their artistry.

Back home in Chicago, they formed a string group with another talented cousin, Ayanna Williams.

They called themselves Sugar Strings.

(cheerful orchestral music) Then, Ade started winning awards.

Among them, the 2012 Sphinx Competition headquartered in Detroit.

(fast-paced violin music) Sphinx is a nonprofit supporting gifted, young, black and Latino string players.

Ade received a $5,000 scholarship toward her professional development.

- My dream is to have fun doing music.

In those categories of my dream, there's being a soloist and doing, going with major orchestras all over the country and all over the world.

I definitely want to go world tour.

(scatting) - Take a little time more in the beginning.

- Okay.

- Yes.

(anxious violin music) - [Michael] Helping Ade achieve her dream is violin teacher Almita Vamos.

Almita and her husband, Roland, are world-renowned string teachers.

- I am looking at the entire picture and listening.

Everything, I'm just listening like a hawk, and I'm trying to see what would an outsider think when they hear her play.

It's a hard job when they're that good.

Sometimes it's almost perfect, and I have to find out that little thing that might not sell.

(fast-paced violin music) That's good, but it's a little too bouncy.

- [Ade] Sorry.

- [Michael] When Almita was seven, she, too, studied at Chautauqua coming every summer until she was 16.

- What I loved about Chautauqua as a student, I loved going to the opera, and the opera had a great deal of influence, I think, on the way I play the violin.

- [Michael] Almita was instrumental in bringing Ade here to Chautauqua.

- [Almita] She's gonna have several experiences.

She's going to play in a very good orchestra.

She'll be exposed to many people, musically, besides myself.

- Lots of orchestra, like the first day, you get the music the night before, you play it perfectly the next day in rehearsal.

And we did Shostakovitch 5 and Beethoven, and extremely hard to play.

It was so hard, and so it was really intense.

Like the first week you get here, you unpack and you go.

There's no time to lollygag.

Well, we can sprinkle sugar on it.

- [Michael] And there isn't much time.

In fact, mealtime is one of the only time she can make new friends.

- It was a party, like disco music was playing.

- I know, I didn't know what it was.

Getting to know everybody and where they come from.

And there's a lot of people here around the world.

- [Michael] Ade is about to have her masterclass.

And even as she waits, she practices.

Silently doing her finger work.

Soon, it's her turn.

(soft violin music) In masterclasses, the student not only plays for the teacher, but also to an audience.

(fast-paced violin music) When the music stops- (audience applauds) the critique begins.

- Beautiful.

Bravo.

- [Michael] Jacques Israelievitch teaches and performs each summer at the Chautauqua Institution.

He's an accomplished violinist and chamber musician who has performed with many well-known artists, including Yo-Yo Ma.

- I'd give it a little vibrato.

All right?

(violin thrumming) - The challenges have been trying to find individual practice time because when I do have individual practice time, I'm practicing the orchestra music for rehearsals and for the concert 'cause we do a whole lot of repertoire and we have to get it great in one week, and we play it in the amphitheater the next week.

- This is not the place to prove that you have fast fingers.

- [Ade] And there's a lot of stuff that I have to do, but it's okay, it's still really great experience.

It gives you time management lessons.

(laughs) You learn how to do it.

- Doesn't have to be any faster than that.

- Okay.

- Okay?

Bravo.

- Thank you so much.

(audience applauds) - [Michael] Fletcher Music Hall is one of the newest buildings that Chautauqua completed in 2008.

The building has an audience capacity of 250 and was specifically designed for music.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] All of the players in this production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" are students in the School of Music voice program.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] There are three performances each with a different cast.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] Giving more students the chance to perform in major roles.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] And it's hard work.

Singing, acting, learning Italian, and putting it to music.

(singing in foreign language) - When I do these auditions, yeah, I listen for a great voice, certainly.

Who wouldn't?

But I'm looking for other qualities as well.

Do they tell me a story?

Do they take me on a journey?

Am I enticed by their personality?

(mouth trills) - Into the back now.

- [Michael] Marlena Malas is the chair of the voice department at Chautauqua.

She's an internationally-renowned recitalist and teaches at top music schools in the country.

Julliard, The Curtis Institute, and the Manhattan School of Music.

(Jean-Michel vocalizing) - Uh-huh.

When they first come, I ask each one directly.

what is your goal for these seven weeks?

And then at the end, I ask them also, did you achieve your goal?

And let's talk about it a little bit.

I'm in everybody's face here.

I mean, I'd be maybe teaching in my studio but if I hear something that isn't right in somebody else's studio, I'm right in there.

So they can't get away.

(chuckles) (Jean-Michel singing in foreign language) - Yes, yes.

I couldn't think a year ago singing Ottavio, and I really think that because of her, of the coaching here, of my teacher in Montreal, I can achieve that now.

It's been really great and long dream of mine.

(singing in foreign language) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Michael] Jean-Michel Richer wants to be an operatic singer.

He's from Montreal and started training at the age of nine.

- I entered a boys choir named Le Petit Chanteurs du Mont-Royal which is a famous voice choir in Montreal.

- [Michael] Growing up, Jean-Michel enjoyed playing football and the trombone.

And at one point, he wanted to be an engineer, but at 17, he changed his mind.

(singing in foreign language) - When you're a singer, what you're trying to do is reveal your talent.

The talent is in and you want to get it out.

I think Marlena, because of her wonderful ears, she's able to do that.

Because the first time was, I think, was a good one.

- [Michael] Jean-Michel first studied as a baritone, but as he improved, his teacher in Montreal thought he was a tenor.

- [Marlena] Sure enough, he was a tenor, and we made the switch.

And I've gradually been doing it.

The transition from baritone into this is a little bit tough because you have to be able to sustain a higher placement, a higher tessitura, which he is able to do now, which is quite lovely, quite lovely.

And now he's going to sing his first, really, his first full, big tenor role here.

It's Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni."

(singing in foreign language) - [Marlena] And it's important for him to get this so he can go on to other things as well.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] Jean-Michel will learn from other faculty members too, with each master sharing their expertise in cultivating his voice and style.

As with all students, his schedule is full.

- Okay, let's go back.

It's a nice warm up, good warm up.

- But it's all directed to making them better.

So in that seven-week period of time that they're here, their concentration is on one thing.

And that thing is to become a better performer, a better singer, a better artist, better human being, because it goes together somehow.

(singing in foreign language) - [Jean-Michel] One of my biggest objective, to have fun to make music.

As a career objective, I feel that I can aim for really the top and I can now sing in Covent Garden, Met, Scala.

I think it's possible.

(violins strumming) - Okay.

Why don't we start, just play the movement, and then we'll go from there.

(active violin music) - There's no time.

There's absolutely no time.

- They all stay in the dormitories.

And so they'll get up and have breakfast with their colleagues in the dormitory.

(active violin music) - And then you practice until orchestra starts at 9:30 to 12:00.

- After rehearsal, they go back to the dormitory and are fed a lunch.

- And then in the afternoons, you'll have either chamber rehearsal.

Chamber, you'll kind of schedule with your group.

There's no one telling you you have to rehearse that day.

(active violin music) - The afternoon could include a private lesson with their faculty member.

- And then in the evening, you go to dinner.

And then after that, you'll either practice more.

- Typical student of the profile that would come here is probably doing between five and eight hours of practice a day.

(active violin music) - [Instructor] Bravo, very nice.

- [Michael] All day rehearsing, performing, practicing.

The demands of this student curriculum are comparable to a professional one.

- You're trying to make every student that comes through more competitive in their world but also to help them grow and mentor them in whatever way that the staff and faculty can.

- [Michael] So they practice, and Chautauqua even has a special place.

These may look like miniature fishing cabins, but they're called practice shacks.

They're iconic to the institution, and for many who drive by, it's their first impression of Chautauqua.

The shacks have history, particularly this one.

During the 1920s, George Gershwin was here with the New York Symphony and composed a classic.

- He wrote much of his F symphony, which much of it transposed and transpired into being the "Rhapsody in Blue" that we know today, but his F symphony, I think without a shadow of a doubt, is his most famous work and it is with quite clear documentation, the majority of it was actually scored here by him at that time.

- [Michael] But time was taking a toll on the cabins.

- We took all of our huts, our cabins, our shacks, which would typically, where you can see them there, so six-by-eight foot spaces, which the floorboards had given way sometimes, and we had had the occasion where a member of our student population had gone through the floor proceeded by a piano.

We took all these cabins and were able to completely maintain their outside integrity.

(drums banging) - [Michael] Inside, there is acoustic pine paneling and the shacks are climate-controlled for students who may practice up to eight hours a day.

That's not all.

McKnight Hall is an historic building where small recitals are often held.

And Lenna Hall with a capacity for 500 are now state-of-the-art facilities all help decentralize the music campus.

- Leadership of Chautauqua Institution of the president, Tom Becker, created back in the early part of 2000 a capital campaign, the ideas campaign.

And they were able to raise for all of the arts an injection of $48 million, which came from, the majority of it came from philanthropy, from the community of Chautauqua.

That translated the School of Music of being able to put in $8 million about five, six years ago, which allowed us to be able to refurbish, build new facilities.

- [Michael] And throughout this 750-acre ground, there's a delightful mixture of old and new representing a variety of architectural styles.

- And then over here... - [Michael] Tours like this one help acquaint visitors to the institution.

- This was the main entrance, between The Pier building.

- [Michael] One of the more surprising facts is the history surrounding the swimming area.

(cheerful piano music) In the early years, it was the front gate where visitors who came by ferry disembarked.

But the real jewel on the lake, the Athenaeum Hotel, a Second Empire style wooded structure was built in 1881.

(cheerful piano music) The musical centerpiece at Chautauqua is the amphitheater.

It has been renovated several times throughout its history and has always been the main venue for the music festival.

- It's not just a music festival, but it's a music festival within a community where all of the arts are celebrated, where the humanities are celebrated.

There's the population of the Chautauqua Institution itself who come here to be consumers of all of this.

- They're very professional for young people.

They all play together, the music flows, and it's just beautiful.

It's a treat.

- Almost as good, or as much as I can tell, as good as any adult orchestra, really.

- They are splendid and enjoyable to listen to.

- These are top-notch students and you can expect pretty good performance.

(audience applauds) - The public here clearly also enjoy that contact with the artists.

There's very much a hands-on feel between audience and performers.

And it's a very nurturing place.

- How's that look?

- [Michael] Home cooking, fun, and friendly conversation.

The aspiring artists aren't always stuck in the dorms thanks to what's called Chautauqua connections.

Many of the 7,000 seasonal residents open their homes.

- Part of what happens here that doesn't necessarily happen in other places is they move into a community of people who live on these grounds that are affirming their choice as artists.

- You have one or two strangers.

- Yeah, we have a couple strangers.

- [Michael] Hale and Judy Oliver spend their summers here.

They discovered Chautauqua in 1993, and now it's a big part of their lives.

- Oh, we're having Italian sausage and Italian meatballs.

- We are members of the connections group where they match you up with students.

- Quite a mixture of people, and our experience has been that at first time, they're normally a little bit reticent, but then after a few minutes, they start to warm up.

- They come over here every Sunday for food.

Okay, guys, we're ready to eat.

Come on in, get a plate.

- [Michael] Pittsburgh dinner seems to me, is meatballs, sausage, and coleslaw.

Was that on purpose?

- Not really.

Not really.

But we found that the kids will really appreciate anything we provide for them.

And they have ferocious appetites.

- It's good.

Olivers always have great food.

- [Judy] After they get their food and get to know each other, they network beautifully.

- There was a studio artist that records and things.

- Yeah.

- [Michael] The sponsors become friends to the students, help provide respite from their work, and become fans by attending performances.

- By inviting them into their homes and giving them the simple things of life, a meal or an opportunity to wash clothes or a conversation.

- So it helps the student, of course, get to know Chautauqua and not feel alone if they're here and don't know anybody until they get acquainted.

- And you're with Curtis, right?

- Yeah.

- [Tom] They need someone around them saying, this is a good thing to do.

We understand what's involved in it.

We affirm you.

And a lot of that happens here.

It's really quite extraordinary.

- [Judy] They're welcome to come here anytime.

The door is open.

They know where the pop is and water, and they can help themselves.

And even if we're not here, they come right on in and use our facilities.

It's their home away from home.

- [Michael] The Olivers not only connect with the students, they offer more than this home away from home, providing scholarships, more than 60, over the last few years.

The seven-week performing arts program costs about $4,000.

(soft piano music) (singing in foreign language) - [Michael] Occasionally after dinner, Hale and Judy get a special treat in return.

(singing in foreign language) - Oh, we get so much back.

We get more back than we give, believe me.

Jean-Michel.

A few hot dogs and hamburgers along the way, and then we get this beautiful music after they've eaten.

(singing in foreign language) - [Hale] We know that they face tremendous challenges ahead.

Very few of the students will go on.

We've had a few that have, but very few do.

(singing in foreign language) - You're giving them something that they'll probably carry with them the rest of the life.

And hopefully, maybe someday, they will be fortunate enough to be able to provide that exact same experience to some other well-deserving student.

♪ Ah ♪ (crowd cheers) - [Michael] Part of the learning experience are the performances.

- I'm pumped.

I'm ready.

- [Michael] Ade is getting ready for her first chamber music concert.

- The idea now is that after rehearsing and meeting with coaches, our own faculty as coaches, they now get a chance to put on the fruition of their efforts.

(active violin music) - [Michael] These smaller concerts are supported by the institution's many community groups.

The Chautauqua Women's Club is sponsoring this recital.

After it's over, a hat is passed for donations to benefit the scholarship fund.

(soft orchestral music) - [Michael] The Music Festival School Orchestra, in collaboration with the voice students, are staging and rehearsing for an evening production.

Throughout the summer session, the orchestra performs an impressive six times in Chautauqua's largest venue, the amphitheater.

- Backstage at the amphitheater.

Very exciting as we get ready for the opera.

(singing in foreign language) - Okay, we have Jean-Michel who's gonna get microphone number two.

(vocalizing) - [Michael] Jean-Michel is warming up before his performance.

(vocalizing) He has a principal role in "Dialogues of the Carmelites" by Francis Poulenc.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] A tragic story based on real events before the French Revolution.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] And Ade is here, too.

In the pit, she's excited to be part of the orchestra and the opera.

(singing in foreign language) - In developing as an artist, it's not only the God-given talent, but it's all the other things that you expose yourself to.

So we have a great faculty and they can go to the theater here, they can see dance, they can listen to lectures.

- Come here, come here.

- [Marlena] They to be human beings as well as wonderful performers, and singers, and artists and this place offers it all.

It's got it right here.

- And Marlena gave us those beautiful rose to everyone who is singing.

And it's kind of really, really nice.

- [Michael] Both Jean-Michel and Ade plan to return to Chautauqua.

About a fourth of the students do.

- Our investment is in their development precisely because we believe in art.

We believe in the value of art inside society.

We think it makes us more civil.

We think it makes us more compassionate, empathetic.

- [Michael] Ade not only learned her repertoire this summer, she was inspired by others.

(singing in foreign language) - [Michael] And Jean-Michel went on to become one of the nine finalists in the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio competition.

("A Little Night Music" by Wolfgang Mozart) And these brother and sister performers better understand the balance between life and a life in the arts.

- Just to feel accomplished because on the last day, you do your studio performance and that just makes you feel fulfilled, like you really lived out your two weeks here and did your best and just had fun.

- I want to feel like I've improved a lot.

Every year I've been here, I've made friendships that I keep in touch with everyone.

And I'd love to have made a lot of new friends and just had a great time.

Even though it's about the ballet, it's also about enjoying your life and having a good time here.

- Chautauqua is unique because of that sense of artists in the making.

- When you're surrounded with artists, all kinds of artists, it always give you something that you don't expect.

- It was so much fun.

Okay, one, two, three.

Okay.

It's almost exactly like a conservatory.

It's like preparing me for college, actually.

- When they learn all about these things and each other, it can be a very, very life-changing experience for them.

- We're all striving for the same thing.

Make them great, as great as they can be.

As good as they can be, that's all I ask.

You don't have to be better than you can be.

Just be as good as you can be.

- [Michael] And that's what they are.

With the guidance and support of their teachers, the community, and the synergy of this unforgettable experience by the lake, Chautauqua.

- It's the place of enchantment.

It must be in the air.

I've seen such wonderful things happen here.

(fast-paced orchestral music) (audience cheers) (soft music) (singing in foreign language) (calm piano and violin music) (singing in foreign language) - We don't necessarily compete with, but we play in the same arenas with other summer schools, well-known schools like Brava, Tanglewood, Aspen.

I think we have our own bias.

So I think we're one of the very best.

(graceful piano music) - And then there's "Pop Goes the Weasel," and my teacher would do.

("Pop Goes the Weasel") Then all the rest of us do (violin strums) and then she'd do (violin strums).

That's all we did.

We just like this, and then we get claps and stuff.

It's really good.

(laughs) (upbeat orchestral music) - It's all about lifelong learning and that has been Chautauqua's mission, and we will continue that mission for as long as we possibly can.

- I never, ever get tired of being here.

I was walking by the lake today thinking, this is just amazing.

And you always see something else.

It's just quite beautiful.

(upbeat orchestral music)