Vincenzo Bellini Lodge #2519

Vincenzo Bellini,  (born November 3, 1801, Catania, Sicily [Italy]—died September 23, 1835, Puteaux, near Paris, France), Italian operatic  composer with a gift for creating vocal melody at once pure in style  and sensuous in expression. His influence is reflected not only in later  operatic compositions, including the early works of Richard Wagner, but also in the instrumental music of Chopin and Liszt.

Born  into a family of musicians, Bellini produced his first works while  still a student at the Naples Conservatory, where he had been sent by  his father, an organist. Bellini gained the patronage of an important  impresario, who commissioned Bianca e Fernando for the Naples opera. The success of this early work led to other commissions. Il pirata (1827), written for La Scala, the opera house at Milan, earned him an international reputation. Bellini was fortunate in having as librettist the best Italian theatre poet of the day, Felice Romani, with whom he collaborated in his next six operas. The most important of these were I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830), based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; La sonnambula (1831; The Sleepwalker); and Norma (1831). La sonnambula,  an opera semiseria (serious but with a happy ending), became very  popular, even in England, where an English version appeared. Bellini’s  masterpiece, Norma, a tragedy set in ancient Gaul, achieved lasting success despite an initial failure.

Bellini lived briefly in London in 1833 and then went to Paris. There, composer Gioachino Rossini’s influence secured for him a commission to write an opera for the Théâtre-Italien. The result was I puritani  (1835), the last of Bellini’s nine operas; although handicapped by an  inept libretto, it is in many ways his most ambitious and beautiful  work.

Bellini’s fame was closely bound up with the bel canto style of the great singers of his day. He was not a reformer; his ideals were those of Haydn and Mozart,  and he strove for clarity, elegance of form and melody, and a close  union of words and music. Yet with perseverance he corrected some of the  grosser abuses of opera then current. While he subordinated the orchestra  accompaniment to the singers and placed upon their voices the  responsibility for dramatic expression, his harmony was more  enterprising than that of his contemporary Gaetano Donizetti, and his handling of the orchestra in introductions and interludes  was far from perfunctory. It is, however, for the individual charm and  elegance of his luminous vocal melody that Bellini is remembered.

Originally called “Figli d’Italia,” the Order Sons of Italy in  America® was established in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York  City on June 22, 1905, by Vincenzo Sellaro, M.D., and five other Italian  immigrants who came to the United States during the great Italian  migration (1880-1923). Their aim was to create a support system for all  Italian immigrants that would assist them with becoming U.S. citizens,  provide health/death benefits and educational opportunities and offer  assistance with assimilation in America.

• In its early years, OSIA established free schools to teach immigrants English and centers to help them become U.S. citizens.
• The first OSIA lodges established orphanages and homes for the  elderly, life insurance and mortuary funds, credit unions, welfare  societies and scholarship funds to aid members in need.
• During World Wars I and II, OSIA members bought war bonds and war  stamps to support the war effort, and lodges competed with each other to  contribute the most money to the Red Cross.
• In World War II, the OSIA Supreme Council (national officers) issued  a resolution urging members to donate one day’s salary to the national  defense.
• To date, OSIA members have given more than $164 million to  educational programs, disaster relief, cultural advancement and medical  research. 

Click on the link below to learn about Italian women making their mark on history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mriZSfsXdhU&list=PL77iMulGgAamYEFOGg7WOMruA5NxH481E&index=2

Who Can Join?

Regular members are those of  Italian lineage, their spouses, their children and their spouses;  widows, widowers, and divorced spouses of current or former members.  Social members are those who, because of their national origin, do not  qualify as regular members. Social members may participate in social and  cultural activities and regular or special meetings of the Lodge.
 

Benefits of Joining

There are several benefits to  becoming a member of our organization. Our members are close friends and  we have a great time when we get together. Of course we also have a  common interest.

OSIA Member Benefits

All OSIA members receive: 

• A free subscription to Italian  America magazine, the most widely read cultural magazine in the U.S. for  people of Italian heritage.
• Access to OSIA.ORG, our  cutting-edge Web site full of information about issues, programs,  reports and research important to Italian Americans. 
• Eligibility for OSIA scholarships and participation in OSIA youth programs. 
• A host of discounts on Italian  specialty items and services of interest to Italian Americans, including  genealogy research, travel, Italian language instruction, and more.