March Activities!!!

Rather than our regular meetings, we start the year with two very different but equally exciting activities.

On Monday 10 March at 7:30pm there is a concert by Italian pianist Filippo Faes. Filippo Faes is professor of chamber music at the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto. He holds masterclasses in Europe and the USA (North Texas University) and is often a member of the jury of international competitions. Since 1999 RAI SAT Television has already broadcasted three times the ten sequels of "Conversations at the piano with Filippo Faes", a program he created and played in. He is one of the candidates for the current Piano vacancy in University of Canterbury; and we wish him all the best. The concert is at the Great Hall of the Arts Centre, tickets cost $15 or $10.

On Saturday 15 March the Dante Society will again join the other ethnic communities for the Culture Galore (12pm - 4pm,Ray Blank Park, Maidstone Rd). Please come and have some real espresso and to know more about our activities this year. No matter you are Italians living in Christchurch, students of the Italian language, or someone just being interested in the Italian culture, we are looking forward to seeing you there!!

Cartolina

Cari amici, welcome to the new year of Cartolina programs “for those who remember Italy and who dream of it”.

Some of you have already discovered the convenience of listening in their own time, through the internet, simply visiting here. Select “Cartolina” and you’ll get the list of all available programs.
If you are keen on the actual radio broadcast, tune in on PLAINS FM 96.9 on alternate Wednesdays at 7.30 pm, or listen to the repeat program on the following Monday, at 10.30 am. Contents of the single programs are on the “Radio Program” page of the Dante website

The upcoming programs are:

Tribute to Pavarotti. In four programs, from 23 January to 5 March, Cartolina celebrates Pavarotti’s artistic life playing some of his famous and less famous recordings, interspaced by comments from a number of people with connection or interest in the opera world: Beverley Cock and Dame Malvina Major (23 January), Luca Manghi and Ruth Todd (6 February), the former Italian Ambassador, Liana Marolla, and Christopher Doig and Suzanne Prain (20 February), and Antony Ernst and Denis Walker (5 March).

Mercatini (19 & 24 March). Guests Lis Burt & Frans Huysmans, owners of the Mercatini shops in Auckland-Newmarket and in Christchurch at 216 Madras St., talk about their expeditions through Italy to source great furniture, made by artisans who follow traditional hand craft methods. Recipe: prawns with cannellini beans. We’ll play a song, just received from a young Italian song writer, Gerardo Amato: “Cha cha cha della nostra Italia”, and more music, from the Tuscan folk repertoire.

Abruzzi (2 & 7 April). Gail Hopkins tells how to find and buy a house in the Abruzzi, an Italian region full of great secrets. From her first trip there, to the connection with “il Trovacasa”, and then establishing “the Housefinder”, it’s all an adventure connecting New Zealand with Roman-founded Sulmona and the Peligna Valley.

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