Admirers of Giuseppe Verdi will gather at the Verdi Monument in Verdi Square in New York on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 10:15 a.m. for the annual Verdi birthday ritual organized by August Ventura and Cori Ellison.

The event is adapted from a tradition of the Club dei 27 in Parma, Italy. Each year on Oct. 10, the club brings 27 red roses to the room in Roncole where Verdi was born, with each rose representing one of his operas, including the Requiem Mass. The roses are placed on the bed, the club president speaks, and those gathered sing “Va pensiero” from “Nabucco.” Before the singing, anyone present may offer brief remarks on Verdi’s relevance today. Past speakers have addressed war, censorship and human displacement.

In New York, the ritual takes place at Pasquale Civiletti’s 1906 Verdi Monument.

“The event has developed such a devoted following here in New York, that I am attempting to ‘export’ this idea to cities where there exist beautiful public monuments to Verdi,” Ventura told OperaWire. “San Francisco has a magnificent one in Golden Gate Park, to say nothing of a vibrant opera culture, so the idea is gaining traction there. I have also proposed the idea to Philadelphia and Washington DC which also possess public statues of Verdi. So circle back in one year and let’s see if this idea has become a national movement occurring every October 10th.”