The Leonardo Da Vinci Society
Newsletter September–December 2016
Dear Members of the Leonardo da Vinci Society,
With this fall 2016 newsletter, we open a new year for our Society and I would like to share some reflections on the past one.
It was not an easy year, but I would say a very satisfactory one. We doubled our members. We are now 160. We had many exciting and
well-attended events in various locations of the City spread through the city with interesting variety of themes, including:
The Dolomites of Brenta lecture at the Museo Italo Americano with more than 100 guests, the Carnevale Gala at the Presidio Golf Club,
the Festa della Donna at the IIC, and the visit to the De Bellis Collection. Our Facebook and web page include photos, and videos of the
events. .
On May 22 at the Muscardini cellar in Sonoma, we had our annual assembly meeting and picnic with 60 guests. There we approved the
new Board:
The big news is the creation of a “Giovani” section that will be organizing events for the younger generation, but open to all of us young
at heart. Valentina and Isabella will be guiding it and we can only expect fun and charming events.
The new year 2016/17 brings us a new Italian Consul General, Hon. Lorenzo Ortona. We hope to receive the same cooperation for our
events, that Console Mauro Battocchi gave us in the past years.
We wish to remember with love and affection our dear member Carolyn Giannini, who was instrumental in the success of many of our
events and we send to former President and Board member David all our warmest condolences.
Finally, I wish you all a great year with the many cultural programs we are planning for your enjoyment. Stay with us and we will grow
stronger together.
Best regards,
Amelia Antonucci
President
President Amelia Antonucci Society Historian Laura Piccirillo Waste
Vice President Vincent Fausone Italian Heritage Historiam Alessandro Baccari
Treasurer Lorraine Legg Special Project Coordinator Colomba Ghigliotti
Recording Secretary Jeanette Adams Director at Large Jeanette Adams
Membership Chair Sonia Alioto Legal Counsel Francesca Bannermann
Events Chair Paola Tonelli Giovani Project Chair Valentina Consolo
Social Chair Sabrina Longega Wilson Giovani Project Co-Chair Isabella Weiss Di Valbranca
Founded in 1949 by Countess Lillian Dandini, Mrs Dobbins D’Anneo and Mrs Louis
Piccirillo, The Leonardo Da Vinci Society was incorporated as a non profit corpora-
tion on July 25, 1951 to promote a broad and deep understanding and appreciation
of Italian contribution to art, literature, aand culture by means of lectures, concerts,
exhibits and receptions honoring distinguished persons.
The Leonardo Da Vinci Society is a 501©(3) non profit organization. Contributions
are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
CALENDAR OF THE EVENTS SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, all day Anna Magnani
1PM (first screening) - 10 PM (last screening)
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St, San Francisco
The Leonardo da Vinci Society is the proud co-presenter and supporter of the CinemaItaliaSF Film program for the third year. This year’s program “ANNA MAGNANI FILM SERIES” includes four movies.
To purchase discounted tickets for the four films and a luxurious party (Roman style food, music, and entertainment) in the Castro Mezzanine follow-ing the screening of the film, ”
The Rose Tattoo” log on to: www.cinemaitaliasf.com and use your special code that will be sent to you only on a pri-vate email.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 , 4:30 - 6:30 Don Pasquale
Alexandra Amati-Camperi, currently Professor of Music at the University of San Francisco, will present an illustrated lecture on Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, which is being per-formed at the San Francisco Opera House on Wed, Sep 28, Sun, Oct 2, and Tue, Oct 4.
Museo Italo Americano, Fort Mason, Bldg C, San Francisco
Alexandra Amati-Camperi will introduce Don Pasquale and briefly discuss the genesis and creation of the opera, con-centrating on how the plot is supported and furthered by musical means, as well as how characters are delineated dramatically and musically.
Alexandra grew up in Naples, Italy, and holds a BA/MA in Slavic Studies and Philology from the Università degli Studi di Pisa (Italy), degrees in piano from the Conservatory of Music of Lucca (Italy), and both an MA and a Ph.D. in Musicology from Harvard University. She has taught at Harvard, UC Davis,
and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is pres-ently Professor of Music at the University of San Francisco.
She is now finishing a book about the presentation and treatment of women in opera, as seen through a few settings of the Orpheus myth, tentatively titled Euridice: The Evolution of the Mythical and Musical Other. She is a profes-sional program annotator and pre-concert lecturer for many Bay Area organizations, including the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera and its six Bay Area Guilds, the San Francisco Bach Choir, and others.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 6pm Omaggio a Firenze
Italian Cultural Institute, 601 Van Ness Ave, SF
Omaggio a Firenze: On the 50th anniversary of the flood, a celebration of its timeless beauty. Photographs by Michael Nelsen and lithographies by Luciano Guarnieri.
A selection of contemporary black-and-white photographs by Michael Nelsen, exploring the beauty of Florence today,
will be juxtaposed to color lithographies by Luciano Guar-nieri, depicting scenes from the 1966 flood.
A commemoration of the tragic days of 1966, and the heroic efforts to salvage Florence’s many treasures, will follow in collaboration with the Leonardo da Vinci Society and in as-sociation with the exhibition at the Bookbinders Museum of San Francisco opening October 28.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 3, 7:00 – 10:30pm Christmas Gala
Century Club, 1355 Franklin St., San Francisco.
Christmas Gala Fund Raiser, with live auction will include dinner and Baroque music from the de Bellis Collection, http://library.sfsu.edu/de-bellis-collection. Christine Brandes, Richard Savino, and Mary Springfels from SFSU will be playing. Brandes received a Presidential award to work with this Baroque music score. Mary is one of the foremost viola da gambists and will be playing the bass line in the baroque works.
Charge for members is $150 per person, for non-members $175. A table for eight is $1,200. Invitations with program and menu will be sent out in October.
The Frank V. de Bellis Collection music holdings include unique manuscripts and unpublished works of the Neapoli-tan school, first editions of Baroque chamber, instrumental and vocal music, numerous opera scores and libretti, along with antique instruments and sound recordings. The de Bellis Collection has over 1,400 librettos that chronicle the literature of opera dating from 1600. The de Bellis Audio Collection is a unique cultural resource that chronicles the history of Italy’s recording industry, including recordings from Berliner, Odeon, Cetra, La “Voce del Padrone,” Zono-phone and a nearly complete representation of Italian artists from Pathé’s pre-electric output and almost the en-tire vocal output from Fonotipia
OTHER EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY:
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 12:00 – 4pm Opera Outing
Il Cenacolo, a companion Italian cultural club, is inviting Leonardo da Vinci members to their annual opera outing. This event has been an Il Cenacolo tradition going back to the 1950’s. It is a lunch under the trees at the Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross. Singers, con-ductors, and staff of the San Francisco Opera will be guests. Opera and other music will be part of the program. If you are interested in attending, either send an email to [email protected], with the following information: Attendees Name(s), Menu Choice: Roast New York Steak, Grilled Salmon, Stuffed Portabello Mushroom (vegetarian), Or Call Ron Derenzi at (650) 737-9484. Payment will be made with cash or check upon check in.
For any question about events please contact:
The Leonardo Da Vinci Society
Newsletter
September–December 2016
The Leonardo Da Vinci Society
P.O.Box 5775
San Francisco, CA 94147-5775 Th
e Le
on
ardo
Da V
inci So
ciety
Mem
bersh
ip A
pp
licatio
n Fo
rm
Retu
rnin
g Me
mb
ers Y
ES N
O
(Circle an
d fi
ll on
ly if you
r add
ress is chan
ge)
New
Mem
ber:
Nam
e ___
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
Pro
fessio
n o
r Area o
f Intere
st
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
Ad
dress __
____
____
____
___
____
____
____
Ph
on
e _____
____
____
___
____
____
____
__
Email __
____
____
____
____
___
____
____
__
Mem
be
rship
Fee
Single
$6
0 ___
____
___
____
____
_
Co
up
le
$
10
0 __
____
____
____
____
Sup
po
rtin
g $
12
0 __
____
____
____
____
Gru
pp
o G
iovan
i (un
der 5
0)
Single $
35
___
____
____
____
__
Co
up
le $6
0 __
____
____
____
___
--------------------------------------------------------------
Send
the ab
ove co
mp
lete form
with
a check
payab
le to: Th
e Leon
ardo
Da V
inci So
ciety
The Leo
nard
o D
a Vin
ci Society
P.O
. Bo
x 57
75
San Fran
cisco, C
A 9
41
47
-57
75