At the Annual General Meeting of the Dante Alighieri Society held on 12 April a new committee was elected. Most of the members were part of the old committee. Here are their names and positions:

President: Franco Papandrea
Vice-President: Gordon McCormick
Treasurer: Tony Hanrahan
Committee members: Luigi Catizone, Julie Docker, Alessandro Merola and Sam Palma.
Co-opted member with a youth focus: Catherine Pellegrino

There were no candidates for the second position of Vice-President and for the position of Secretary. Franco Papandrea, who chaired the meeting and was re-elected to the position of President, urged members to come forward if they are interested in filling these vacancies.

As outgoing President, Dr Papandrea summarised his report for the past year dwelling on the celebrations for the Society’s 60th anniversary. He then noted that there was a drop in the number of students compared with the previous year, but this year’s trend is positive again. He praised the Dante Musica Viva choir for its role as the public face of the Society and its readiness to perform at public events. The Society’s financial position continues to be sound.

Yvette Devlin

​[Editor’s note: Considering that the positions of vice-president and the secretary were vacant, on Monday 16th April, the Dante Alighieri Committee nominated further office-bearers. Please see page 2.]