The Leonardo Da Vinci Society
Newsletter January–June 2016
Dear members and friends of The Leonardo da Vinci Society,
Another newsletter, another year!
We have fun and culture in store for you for 2016. The highlight will be our annual gala, “A Carnival Ball” on “Giovedi Grasso” (Fat
Thursday), February 4, 2016, at the Presidio Golf Club. Mark your calendar!
The Leonardo da Vinci Society has changed and grown over the past year. Our Board of Directors has welcomed four new members.
Our most recent addition, Elisabetta Baldini, will share responsibility with our social chair, Sabrina Longega Wilson, for media and promotion of events.
We are growing because of your enthusiastic participation! Our Fall programs were well attended by members and visitors alike. Thank
you for bringing your friends to our events and encouraging them to join. We are happy to welcome a wave of new members.
Please renew your membership, continue to attend events and bring your friends.
Have a wonderful 2016 with The Leonardo da Vinci Society!
Board of Directors:
President
Amelia Antonucci
Amelia Antonucci
Vice President
Eugene Ranghhiasci
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 corporation 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.
Treasurer
Lorraine Legg
Recording Secretary
Jeanette Adams
Membership Chair
Sonia Alioto
Events Chair
Paola Tonelli
The Leonardo Da Vinci Society is a 501©(3) non profit organization. Contributions
are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
Society Historian
Laura Piccirillo Waste
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Please send us your suggestions and comments form, on how to improve our programs and our Society. Fill in the pre-cut
form, and send it to us!
Name___________________________
On a scale of 1-10, how did I like the 2015 programs ______________
How many programs did I attend out of the 6 presented in the Fall?_____________________
What program I would like to see in the next season? ________________________________
I prefer:
Art_____Literature_____Music_____History_____Science and Technology_____Other ______
(you may mark more than one subject)
Please send us a name of a speaker and/or a proposal for 2016/17 addressing it to:
Paolatonelli1@ gmail.com
CALENDAR OF THE EVENTS JANUARY-JUNE 2016
THURSDAY, JANUARY 21 at 7:30 PM
Luciano Chessa: “Music the Dead Can Hear”:
Theosophical Presences in Luigi Russolo’s Art of
Noises, relating back to Leonardo’s noisemakers.
Built in the heart of the Presidio of San Francisco, a national
park, and conveniently located just 10 minutes from downtown San Francisco, the Presidio Clubhouse offers breathtaking surroundings and dramatic sunsets.
Musicologist, composer, and performer Luciano Chessa
(San Francisco Conservatory of Music) has been active in
Europe, the U.S., Asia, Australia and South America. He is
the author of Luigi Russolo, Futurist: Noise, Visual Arts,
and the Occult (2012), the first monograph to be dedicated
to Futurist Russolo, published to critical acclaim by the
University of California Press.
Chessa’s study and his lecture present a completely new
reading of the mechanical sound synthesizers—
the intonarumori— painter/musician Luigi Russolo created
beginning in 1913: a reading that traces the roots of Russolo's instrument to Leonardo da Vinci's noisemakers.
Museo Italo Americano
Fort Mason, Building C San Francisco
RSVP: [email protected]
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4 from 6 to 10 PM
Carnevale Veneziano
Leonardo da Vinci Fundraiser
Outfitted with exposed beam ceilings, rich cherry wood
paneling, a large stone fireplace, and French doors, the
Clubhouse and attached terrace offer a unique setting for
our Carnevale event.
Presidio Golf Club
300 Finley Rd, San Francisco.
.
Cocktails will be followed by dinner and dancing. Venetian
Carnevale costumes/masques preferred.
Cost: $125 for members and $150 for guests.
To register go to http://www.davincisanfrancisco.com/
SATURDAY, MARCH 5 from 2 to 4 PM
Visit to the Frank de Bellis Collection,
San Francisco State University
Program will include viewing current and permanent exhibits, 4th floor of the Paul Leonard Library, a lecture by UCB
Prof. Lisa Pieraccini on Etruscan artifacts, and light refreshments following in the Faculty Commons.
The Frank V. de Bellis Collection is a library-museum of Italian authors and subjects representing the civilization of
ancient to modern Italy, particularly in the areas of history,
literature, the fine arts, and music.
It includes manuscripts, rare books, and music manuscripts
and scores, Etruscan, Greek and Roman artifacts and coins,
period instruments, wax cylinders, archival recordings,
wood blocks, prints, and contemporary artwork.
second panel session, with some of the brightest and successful Italian women in the Bay Area.
Moderator: Paola Tonelli, retired, former Executive Director, Vodafone.
Istituto Italiano di Cultura
601 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco
APRIL, DATE TBD
Celebration of Italian Alpinists from the 1930s
Frank V. de Bellis, an Italo-American businessman resident
of San Francisco until his death in 1968, was born in the
Apulia region of Italy and devoted most of the last 25
years of his life to philanthropic and educational projects
with the purpose of informing and instructing others in the
rich heritage of Italy.
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco
RSVP: [email protected]
TUESDAY, MARCH 8, INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN’S DAY at 6:30 PM
Women & Leadership 2.0: Italy comes to the Bay Area
Dolomiti: Crozzon del Brenta (via delle guide)
In collaboration with the Circolo Trentino, the Italian Consul
General, Mauro Battocchi, and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, an illustrated lecture, followed by lunch.
It will include a celebration of the “Giant of the Mountains”,
Bruno Detassis, 1910- 2008, considered in Italy as the greatest alpinist of the 1930s and Walter Bonatti, who participated in the first successful ascent of the Himalayan peak of K2
in 1954.
MAY, SATURDAY 22
Al fresco luncheon at the Napa valley home of Frank and
Aurora Roselli.
Details to be announced .
All around the world, International Women's Day celebrates the achievements of women while calling for greater equality.
The first celebration was in 1911. The mimosa is a symbol.
On 8th of March Italian men celebrate the day with a gift
of yellow mimosas to their women.
As a sequel to the “Women and Leadership: Stories from
Italy and Silicon Valley”, which was held last May 28 at the
Istituto, the Leonardo da Vinci Society is organizing a