Italian Children's School

The Italian Children's School has started on Friday afternoon the 15th of Feb. in Opawa at the Risingholme Community Centre. For more information about the school please write to Maria Fresia at mariafresia1@hotmail.com

Authentic Venetian Masks

If you have come to the Italian National Day dinner last year or the our Christmas stand at the Arts Centre, you might have seen the beautiful Venetian masks made by our Venetian friend Alberto. Now you can buy them at a very reasonable price at the furniture store Mercatini, 216 Madras St. (click "read more" to read more...)

Mercatini (and its twin shop in Newmarket, Auckland) sells wonderful artisan's furniture imported from Italy. The owners of Mercatini are happy to keep the masks for decoration of their shops and to sell them on our behalf. Please go there and have a look if you are considering getting a mask or a beautiful piece of furniture!

New Membership Fee

We would like to kindly remind you to renew your membership for 2008. To cover the expenditure of our activities, the membership fee for 2008 is changed to:
$20.00 single
$27.50 family
$12.50 unwaged/pensioner/student
You can renew your membership at our meeting in March, or you can send a cheque made out to Dante Society, to our Treasurer: Robyn Black, 48 Huntsbury Avenue, Christchurch, with all your details to update our mailing list.

We would like to thank all the members for the supports over the years, and we hope that you could continue supporting us. Your contribution is our only support!

Dante Event - Italian Concert & Dinner at The Akaroa Music Festival

Gaiety Hall, Akaroa, Wed.30 Jan

This Festival is a brand new concept, set up by teachers of the University of Canterbury School of Music. It’s a one-week event, with music master classes, and concerts, each concert featuring a country: French, Spanish, Korean, and Italian nights.
During the interval, a national themed buffet will be available, with separate ticket (you can go to the concert without the dinner, but you cannot go to the dinner without the concert).
As fund raising for the Children School, the Dante Society has undertaken the task of catering for the event for the Italian night. Tickets can be purchased through Tiketek, or as door sale.


Italian Night with "Il racolto" and Brigitte Murray
Italian music - brightly coloured, individualistic, coonfident, stylish, arrestingly decorated bubbling with enthusiasm and spirit. Il Raccolto will perform most popular and famous composers of the Italian period authentic in an authentic Baroque style. Maurice Till, one of NZ's most accomplished pianists who has appeared on stages all over the world for the past 60 years with artists such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopt and Pierre Fournier will accompany the stunning soprano Brigitte Murray in the second half of this concert. Dinner: a selection of pasta dishes, mixed salad, panettone.
Tickets: $20 adult, $18 senior, $12 child & student. Italian dinner: $25. Cash Bar available for drinks.

Please make your reservation as soon as possible. Dinner reservation closes 3 days before the event, door sales are available for the concert. Please come to support our Children’s School, and enjoy a wonderful night in charming Akaroa! For more information, please visit: http://www.akaroafestival.org.nz

Gusto Italiano - Canterbury Farmers Market

Come and visit the Canterbury Farmers Market on Saturday mornings and you can purchase the wonderfully cooked authentic Italian dipping/pasta sauces (sugo alla norma, pesto genovese etc.) and calzoni there for very reasonable prices from Andrea and Brunella.

Canterbury Farmers Market is held at the Riccarton House and Bush (opposite to Christchurch Boys' High School) every Saturday morning from 9am to 12pm. Click here for the map.

UC Summer Course - ITAL 101 Beginners' Italian

For any current Canterbury student who wishes to get some extra credits in university during the summer and get a solid foundation in the Italian language, the "ITAL 101 - Beginner's Italian" is offerred again this year.
Starting from 7 Jan, This 1.5 month long course offers a serious introduction to Italian language in reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension.
For more information, visit the course website.

If you wish to enrol, please go to the Registry on 7 Jan. The enrolment has to be complete on that day.