by Laura McCrystalStaff writer

What does a garden have to do with Christianity, Is-lam and Judaism?

As Azim Nanji points out, it is the fi rst shared space be-tween all three Abrahamic faiths — the setting of their creation stories.

Nanji, senior associate di-rector of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stan-ford University, will lecture at 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy. Chautauqua Institution’s Department of Religion has dedicated this week of Interfaith Lectures to its Abrahamic Program, which celebrates Christian-ity, Islam and Judaism as the three Abrahamic faiths. Nanji is the fi rst lecturer in

this week’s series, spe-c i f i c a l l y about Jeru-salem as sa-cred space.

R a t h e r than focus solely on Jerusalem, h o w e v e r , Nanji said he plans to pro-vide an overview of the no-tion of sacred space shared between faiths. Jerusalem is just one example; the garden is another.

Sacred space can teach people of all three Abraha-mic faiths about the com-monality between their ide-als, Nanji said. He hopes to give background informa-tion so that speakers later in the week can focus more

specifi cally on the space of Jerusalem.

“The idea of the garden is one that’s sort of a symbol of how human beings try and create on Earth a place that can both be home, but … also one with which they engage so they can live up to the highest ethical standards in their lives,” he said. “It’s really a place where you cul-tivate your best ideal.”

These values, which stem from the gardens of the three faiths’ creation stories, are especially relevant to-day, Nanji said. In a global-ized world, he thinks it is crucial to remind people of the ways in which their own histories stem from a shared set of values.

Nanji sets stage for Abrahamic week

Nanji

See NANJI, Page A4

in 1996. Composed of musi-cians who have professional careers in various musical styles, the ensemble com-bines the musical traditions that were created in Anda-lusia and spread throughout Spain and northern Africa.

A variety of instruments will make an appearance at the concert, including the oud (Arab lute), violin, mandolin, tar (Persian gui-tar), banjo and the darbouka (hourglass-shaped drum), according to a Chautauqua Institution news release.

Didi said that musical-ity is balanced with culture, education, tradition and emotion. His favorite music is “profound music of impos-sible love,” because he is a ro-mantic, he said.Cultural cohesion

Andalusia refers to the portion of the Iberian Penin-sula during the medieval pe-riod when a Muslim Caliph-ate ruled over the majority of what is now Spain and parts of northern Africa.

“Andalusia, in southern Spain in Medieval times, wit-nessed the three great mono-theistic faiths living in proxim-ity, harmony and economy,” according to the release. “This evening will celebrate the rich repertoire of this distinct and evocative period.”

The artists will perform sounds of traditional Arabic, Hebrew, Castillian Spanish and Judaic Spanish songs, according to the sample pro-gram given to The Chautau-quan Daily.

The Chautauquan DailyThe Chautauquan Daily

The Offi cial Newspaper of Chautauqua Institution | Monday, August 9, 2010

To coincide with this week’s Interfaith Lecture theme, Daily photographer Greg Funka shares some images from a recent trip to Jerusalem

PAGE B1

Kim wins Piano CompetitionAndreevski, Zenteno also honoredPAGE A5

Wanderingthrough student art studiosSchool of Art to host open housePAGE B4

Employing new techniquesBehind the scenes of light, sound production for ‘Macbeth’PAGE A8

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WWW.CHQDAILY.COMThe Daily online is all Chautauqua, all the time — view select stories from the print edition, plus big, beautiful photos and plenty of exclusive multimedia content.

Three pillars, three cultures showcased on Amp stage tonight

Atlan

Didi

After years of trying to arrange his summer schedule to include Chautau-qua, Burns was able to visit for the fi rst time in 2009 and deliver an evening pre-sentation about his documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” He enjoyed his experience so much that he is back for an entire week this season. Burns will begin his week by delivering today’s morning lecture at 10:45 a.m. in the Amphitheater, and he will also give an evening presentation on Wednesday.

In his lecture today, which will open Week Seven’s theme of “Sacred Spaces,” Burns will begin with a 30-minute fi lm about painter and spiritual teacher Wil-liam Segal. The short fi lm, called “Véz-elay,” is one of three fi lms Burns made about Segal between 1992 and 2000.

A July 29 New York Times article about these three fi lms and Burns and Segal’s friendship emphasized the difference be-tween Burns’ usual style and his work on

Segal; they have long periods of silence, no narration and no historical docu-ments. Burns, who has been making doc-umentary fi lms for over 30 years, told The New York Times that these elements were not necessary to tell the story in the fi lms.

“We just connected stuff, but in that simplicity something comes through,” he said in the article about these lesser-known fi lms.

“Filled with contemplative scenes from in and around the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in the French town of Vézelay,” the article stated about the fi lm Burns will show this morning, “it was fi lmed as sunlight fi ltered through the windows at the summer solstice, and it includes footage from a medi-tation session led by Mr. Segal in the crypt and his commentary on human-ity’s search for identity.”

BY L AU R A MCCRYSTA L | S TA FF WR I T ER

BURNS OPENS WEEK ON ‘SACRED SPACES’

by Kathleen ChaykowskiStaff writer

In its second and fi nal per-formance in the Logan Cham-ber Music Series at 4 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, the resident Audubon Quartet will demonstrate that you only have to listen to Lud-wig van Beethoven’s quartets to know that just when you think you know Beethoven, he’ll throw you for a spin.

The quartet, composed of Akemi Takayama and Ellen Jewett (violin), Doris Lederer (viola), and founding mem-ber Thomas Shaw (cello), will perform Beethoven’s Grand Fugue, Op. 133, and his String Quartet in F Ma-jor, Op. 59, No. 1.

Today’s repertoire requires virtuosity not only from its

Audubon Quartet rediscovers Beethoven

Submitted photo

The Audubon Quartet, which has been performing at Chautauqua for more than two decades, will perform works by Beethoven at 4 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall.

performers, but also from the listeners; the concert will open with the “Grand Fugue,” a conceptual piece that Takaya-ma described as “pretty mod- See AUDUBON, Page A4

ern, even for these days,” fol-lowed by a Romantic quartet more in the mainstream of Beethoven’s work.

See BURNS Page A4

by Elizabeth LundbladStaff writer

Tonight’s 8:15 p.m. special performance at the Amphi-theater, “Songs of the Three Cultures from Medieval An-dalusia,” will combine three of the four pillars of Chau-tauqua Institution: arts, edu-cation and religion.International artists

Although the Amp hosts many artists each season, tonight Chautauquans will have the opportunity to hear the vocal and instrumental talents of Françoise Atlan and Fouad Didi with the Tar-ab Ensemble.

This is not Atlan’s fi rst time in the United States. In 2003, she performed in Carn-egie Hall with the Orchestra of Fez, Morocco, she said.

“Mine is a story of family, about two cultures the Oc-cidental and the Sephardic,” Atlan said. “When I was younger, I would listen to the music of my mother and my grandmother.”

Growing up with this double culture fostered a co-habitation of both Sephardic and Arabic music traditions, she said.

“This music we share, Jew-ish and Muslim,” Atlan said. “(Religion) is not a question.”

Although both have toured the U.S. before, this will be Atlan’s and Didi’s fi rst time visiting Chautauqua In-stitution.

Born in Tlemcen, Algeria, Didi said that his birth city has a great tradition of the music of Andalusia.

“Everyone grows up lis-

tening to Andalusian music,” Didi said. “It is a very sophis-ticated music.”

Didi started learning music from his father at age 12, he said. His father was a Sufi mu-sician. Although he plays mul-tiple instruments, Didi is an exemplary violinist and said it is his favorite instrument.

Accompanying Atlan and Fouad will be the Tarab En-semble, which Didi began

Within the fi rst few moments that Ken Burns walked onto the grounds of Chautauqua Institution last summer, he “got it.”

“I felt almost instantaneously that this is what Thomas Jefferson meant by ‘the pursuit of happiness,’” he said. “You can see the blue-

print of an American utopia here.”

See ANDALUSIAN Page A4