SPRING GALA
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS OF FESTIVAL VERDI

On April 28 at the New York Metropolitan Club, Teatro Regio di Parma hosted the IFFV Spring Gala to promote the XXII Festival Verdi (in Parma and Busseto, September 22 – October 16 2022), in collaboration with the association International Friends of Festival Verdi.

The evening was hosted on April 28th at the private club founded in 1891 by the magnate J. P. Morgan. 150 selected guests – among which personalities from the US financial, publishing and entrepreneurial panorama – participated in the presentation of the XXII Festival Verdi. The gala dinner will be prepared by chef Massimo Bottura, whose tailor-made menu will highlight the products of the Parmesan territory, whose protagonists (Barilla, Delicius, Mutti, Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Rizzoli, Zarotti) were present at the evening.

The Gala saw the participation of the Italian General Consul in New York Fabrizio Di Michele, the mayor of Parma and president of the Teatro Regio di Parma Federico Pizzarotti, the general manager of Teatro Regio di Parma and artistic director of Festival Verdi Anna Maria Meo, the President of the International Friends of Festival Verdi James E. Miller.

The evening was further valorized by the performance of the soprano Eleonora Buratto and the event included a silent and live auction with the famous Christie’s auctioneer Brook Hazelton, who will present exclusive items, specifically realized for the occasion by the professional laboratories of tailoring and scenography from Teatro Regio di Parma, as well as exclusive experiences aiming at revealing the prestige, the cultural heritage and the history of our territory to an international audience.M° Riccardo Frizza, protagonist of the XXII Festival Verdi in the conduction of Simon Boccanegra, attended the evening together with Davinia Rodriguez.

The evening gala was organized by Teatro Regio di Parma and International Friends of Festival Verdi with the support of the Italian Embassy in Washington and the Consulate General of New York, Regione Emilia-Romagna APT Servizi, #inEmiliaRomagna, Comune di Parma, Consorzio Parma Alimentare, Fondazione Parma UNESCO City of Gastronomy, Parma Food Valley, Barilla, Delicius, Mutti, Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Rizzoli, Zarotti, Caruso, Castello di Montechiarugolo, Dallara, Frette, M. Casa Maria Luigia, Oinoe Vini, Palazzo Marchi, Strategic Claims Services, Huntington, Gryphon, Millersha attorneys at law.

International Friends of Festival Verdi is the non-profit association founded in the United States in 2017. In 2019, it obtained the 501 © qualification from the IRS (3), being one of the few of its kind among the Italian cultural institutions. The association is composed by a hundred members circa and, since its foundation, it has contributed to the support of Teatro Regio di Parma for Festival Verdi with almost €2MLN to stimulate and share new research and reflections upon Giuseppe Verdi’s music, promoting and passing on the music of the Maestro in his homeland and undertaking specific actions to support both arts and entertainment forms and educational programs.