Photos of the Italian Christmas Market - Mercatino di Natale

Our Dante Mercatino di Natale was a great success! We share a few images here, but to see the full album please click here.

We had 22 stalls, indoors and outdoors, and lots of visitors! Everyone sold well, plus there were prizes and tastings and a few surprises.

Babbo Natale arrived at 11am with Italian biscuits for all the children (grazie Palazzo Italia for sponsoring this!) 

Thank you to all the Dante volunteers who organised and worked at the Mercatino!

La Newsletter di Dicembre!

Click here to read the latest Dante newsletter

Concerto di Natale this Saturday

The Dante Aligheri Society Auckland presents the final concert of its 2018 Chamber Music Series, to be followed by Panettone and Prosecco!

A pairing of romantic works from Italy and Germany, Catalani's "Danza delle Ondine" and Reinecke's Trio op. 188 for oboe, horn and piano, as well as music by Koechlin, Jan Bach and Franco Margola.

Performers:
Camille Wells, oboe
Carl Wells, horn
Luca Manghi, flute
David Kelly, piano

Tickets at the door (cash only)

$25 / $20 for D.A. Society members / $10 students

Saturday 24th November, 5pm

The Community of Saint Luke 130 Remuera Road, Auckland, New Zealand 1050

November Newsletter online now

Click here to read our November Newsletter, full of reportages about the many events of the Festival Italiano Season in Auckland, and the Italian events for November in Auckland.

Italian Presidential honour for Dante Auckland member and Festival Italiano Director Alessandra Zecchini

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has awarded Dante Auckland member Alessandra Zecchini the title of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia for services to Italian culture and foreign relations. 

(Cliccare qui per l'articolo su AISE in lingua italiana)

Italian Ambassador Fabrizio Marcelli (right) awards the Cavaliere honour to Alessandra Zecchini on Sunday 28 October

The state honour — which translates as Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy — is bestowed on Italians and foreigners who have promoted relations between Italy and other countries. It also reflects on the promotion of Italian culture in the world. 

His Excellency Fabrizio Marcelli, Italian Ambassador to New Zealand, awarded the honour on Sunday at the annual Festival Italiano street festival in Newmarket, Auckland. 

Zecchini has been widely active in the Italian community. She is a long-standing committee member and former President of the Società Dante Alighieri di Auckland, and a representative on the Com.It.Es Wellington. She has taught Italian language and culture at the Dante Society for over 20 years. 

Since 2006 she has been Director of the annual Festival Italiano Auckland, which is the country’s largest Italian cultural event, and among Auckland’s busiest ethnic festivals. 

Photos of Festival Italiano 2018

We have so many beautiful photos of the 2018 Festival Italiano that it would be difficult to choose what to publish! So go to our FB page and check out the album there, still being uploaded! Feel free to tag yourself and/or your business! 

If using any images please credit Festival Italiano Auckland and Photos by Gianni Flego

Festival Italiano 2018 - Opening Party at NSP

Thank you Antonio and Admir for a wonderful Festival Italiano Opening Party at NSP!

Balmy evening, perfect location, delicious food, cool music, and to drink

Peroni, Aperol Spritz and Quadra Franciacorta!

Photos by Gianni Flego

Italian Language Week celebrations: Dante's Talk at the Art Gallery

Dr Bruno Ferraro's Lecture at the Auckland Art Gallery, Saturday 20 October at 11 am was a big success. 

Bruno's talk was organised by the Dante Alighieri Society of Auckland and the Auckland Art Gallery to celebrate the 18th Annual Week of the Italian Language in the World, a series of events that will culminate here in Auckland with the Festival Italiano in Newmarket, on the 28th of October.

Dr Ferraro took us on a journey from Hell to Mt. Eden following Dante’s footsteps. Famous artists and Tchaikovsky’s music illustrated Dante’s spectacular depiction of his age through Hell, a place where we found lovers, historical personages, artists, knights and Popes.

Thanks again to the Art Gallery, and to Kim O'Loughlin in particular, and also to Dr Bruno Ferraro for making this talk possible.

Photos from Festival Italiano Concert of 20 October 2018

Beautiful concert yesterday evening with with renown musicians Luca Manghi, flute and Matthew Marshall, guitar. Here are some photos by Gianni Flego.

The Festival Italiano concert, part of the Dante Alighieri Chamber Music Series, also fall during The Week of the Italian Language in the World 2018, so it was a double celebration, and many language students, as well as Italians, attended.

The musicians also talked about their repertoire and their instruments

The performance was well attended and followed by an Aperitivo, with drinks from our sponsors Peroni, Campari, and Italian Cuvée, and food prepared by our volunteers from the Dante Auckland.                                                            Thank you all for coming and see you at the next concert of the Dante Alighieri Chamber Music Series on 24th November!

18TH ITALIAN LANGUAGE WEEK IN THE WORLD - 15 to 21 October 2018

The 18th Italian Language Week in the World is an event promoted yearly by the cultural and diplomatic network in the third week of October. It focuses on a theme that acts as the leitmotif of a vast cultural programme to promote the diffusion of the Italian language. The initiative was launched in 2001 through the joint action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Accademia della Crusca

The 18th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World, will take place from 15 to 21 October 2018, and will be dedicated to “Italian and the web, social networks for the Italian Language”. 

The Dante Alighieri Society of Auckland programme for the week:

Every day from 15 to 21 October 2018 we will post we will post a tile with an Italian word to learn on FB, Instagram, Twitter and other Social Media.

Also, on Saturday 20 October we will have two events, one in the morning and one in the afternoon:

Sat 20 Oct 2018 11am - Auckland Art Gallery, free talk by Dr Bruno Ferraro: Transgression and Punishment in Dante's Inferno

Sat 20 October 2018 5:00pm – 6:30pm - St Lukes Church, a concert of classical Italian music:

Festival Italiano Concert  (Followed by Italian Aperitivo)

Photos of the Piano Concert with Duo Paola Biondi and Debora Brunialti - Auckland 9 October 2018

The Italian Festival Season in Auckland is in full swing and tonight we celebrated with a four hands piano recital with Italian Duo Paola Biondi and Debora Brunialti who presented a stunning program of music by Sollima, Gershwin, Bollani, Canonici and Mozart/Buttal. A special thank to Italian Embassy in Wellington for bringing these two wonderful pianists to New Zealand. Duo Biondi Brunialti The concert was followed by an Italian Aperitivo, and for this we would like to acknowledge our drink Sponsors Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Campari New Zealand, Italian Cuvée and food sponsors Massimo's Italian Cheeses, Il Forno, Sous Chef and, of course, all the amazing volunteers of the Società Dante Alighieri Auckland. 

Photos by Gianni Flego

 #FestivalItalianoAuckland #FestivalItalianoNZ

Photos by Gianni Flego

Video by Wilma Laryn