New Yorkers to Congregate at Verdi Square to Celebrate Composer’s 211th Birthday

By David Salazar

Verdi’s 211th birthday will be celebrated on Oct. 10, 2024 at Verdi Square in New York City.

The event, led by August Ventura, will be open to the public and will offer an opportunity for attendees to join in singing Verdi’s “Va pensiero.” The event will also feature the offering of 27 roses, one for each opera, at the base of the statue.

“We organized this ceremony on two prior occasions, in 2016 and in 2018, each time coinciding with the presence of visiting members of Parma’s venerable Club dei 27, a super-exclusive Verdi-themed Club,” Ventura told OperaWire.
Ventura noted that he has been deeply inspired by a quote by Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips.
“To the world, as to the nation he helped to found,  Verdi left an enduring legacy of music, charity, patriotism, honour, grace, and reason. He was and remains a mighty force for continuing good,” says her quote.

“For me this quote brilliantly reduces Verdi’s essence to two lines, and reminds us why we should be paying attention.  Every time I attend one of his operas, or even ‘listening’ to the one in my head, I am reminded of his undiminished relevancy to our own times.  In 2024 this is perhaps even more heightened,” Ventura noted. “Even the statue where this ceremony will take place has deeper significance than most know about.  It was erected in 1906 by the Italian-American community in response to the vicious anti-immigrant sentiment that prevailed, directed at Italian-Americans and other groups.  One has to admire the symbolism of the four characters respectfully depicted at the base: Aida, Otello, Leonora (from ‘La Forza del Destino’) and Falstaff.  It’s as if the creators were addressing our current concerns for diversity and inclusion.  “

The gathering commences at 10:15 a.m. with the invocation set for 10:30 a.m.

 

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