Community Calendar for January 2026

To have your event listed, use this form, or go to the Community Calendar webpage.

For information about Calandra Institute events, go to calandrainstitute.org.

Calandra's Community Calendar

Dear Friends,

We hope you will enjoy the events as well as all the other offerings presented in our Community Calendar.

If a specific virtual event listed below does not include a Zoom link, please contact the hosting organization. Now accepting event entries for February and March 2026.

January 2026 - Community Calendar

Book Presentation

Book Launch and Reading: If We Still Lived Where I Was Born

by Maria Giura

January 30 (Friday) 7:00-8:30pm

(Snow Date: Friday, February 6, 2026)

Join us at Casa Belvedere for an engaging evening with author Maria Giura as she presents, and reads from, her newest book of memoir poems, If We Still Lived Where I Was Born. Beginning in the apartment above her parents’ Brooklyn pastry shoppe, Savarese, where she imagines them “still fighting, still making us, still together,” Giura unlocks the meaning she’s made of childhood and heritage, spirituality and lost love and draws the reader in to retrieve their own. Moving between Brooklyn and Italy, between family and “stranger,” If We Still Lived Where I Was Born brims with pathos and celebration, from her immigrant father “waiting on the corner, bread in his hand” to her sister “pulling music” from her family, “helping [them] make their own song.” Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Sponsored by The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere

This event will be held The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere

79 Howard Avenue, Staten Island

Admission: Open to the public

Fee: Members Free; $10.00 non-members.

Phone: (718) 273-7660

Web Address: https://casa-belvedere.org/product/01-30-book-launch-and-reading/

____________________________________________________

21st Annual Holiday Residency

Chris Botti

January 1 (Thursday) 7:00pm and 9:30pm (Two Shows Nightly)

Performances thru January 4th, visit web site below for details. Blue Note Jazz Club is proud to present world renowned trumpeter Chris Botti's highly anticipated 21st Annual Holiday Residency, a four-week engagement from mid-December through early January (including Christmas and New Year’s Eve). Full Bar & Dinner Menu Available.

Sponsored by the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York

This event will be held at the Blue Note Jazz Club,

131 West 3rd Street, New York

Admission: Open to the public

Fee: $$88.98 - $271.60; Price varies by seating area.

For ticket purchase visit website below.

Phone: (212) 475-8592

Web Address: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/chris-botti-blue-note-jazz-club-tickets/13866844?pl=bluenoteny&_gl=1*imrg98*_gcl_au*MTA3NTA4MjUzMS4xNzY1NDY4ODc0*_ga*MTQzNjE3NDU0NS4xNzY1NDY4ODc0*_ga_5VBLSJ2R28*czE3NjU0Njg4NzQkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjU0Njg4NzQkajYwJGwwJGgw

I Puritani

Vincenzo Bellini

January 3 (Saturday) 7:00pm

(Performances are available through January 18th, see website for details.)

For gorgeous melody, spellbinding coloratura, and virtuoso vocal fireworks, I Puritani has few equals. I Puritani was the final work from Vincenzo Bellini, the great Sicilian exponent of the bel canto style of opera. It was written specifically for the talents of four of the best singers of its day, and the opera’s success depends almost entirely on the vocal abilities (and artistic sensibilities) of the performers.

Sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera House

This event will be held at The Met Opera House

30 Lincoln Center, Manhattan

Admission: Open to the public

Fee: $35.00 and Up; Prices vary by seating.

Phone:(212) 362-6000

Email: metropolitanopera@metopera.org

Web Address: https://www.metopera.org/season/2025-26-season/i-puritani/

Polenta Festa

January 4 (Sunday) 5:00pm -7:00pm

Join us for our annual party celebrating the humble cornmeal dish that has become ubiquitous on restaurant menus. Bring your dish piping hot—whether accompanied with cheese, mushrooms, lentils or anything else you can create—since oven space is limited.

Sponsored by Dorothea’s House, Casa di cultura italiana.

This event will be held at Dorothea’s House, Casa di cultura italiana

120 John Street, (at the corner of Paul Robeson Place) Princeton, NJ

Admission: Open to the public

Fee: Free

Phone: (609) 924-9713

Web Address: www.dorotheashouse.org

Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) 2nd Thursdays: Share Your Top Hits Of 2025 ... Virtually On Zoom

January 8 (Thursday) 6:00PM-8:00PM

Share your best piece of 2025 – published or pending publication or, read a new piece. Briefly tell us why you are proud of the work -- this is a chance to connect, listen, share goals and plans for 2026. Post links to publications.

Sponsored by IAWA & John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.

This event will be held at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute

25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor, NYC

Admission: Open to the public

Fee: Free; Register on the web site below.

Contact: Maria A. Lisella

Phone:(718) 777-1178

E-mail Address: marialisella@aol.com

Web Address: IAWA.net

Giacomo Puccini's

Madama Butterfly

January 9 (Friday) 8:00pm

(Additional performances are available through January 24th, visit the website below for details.)

The title character of Madama Butterfly—a young Japanese geisha who clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage—is one of the defining roles in opera. The lyric beauty of Puccini’s score, especially the music for the thoroughly believable lead role, has made Butterfly timeless. sung in Italian,

Sponsored by The Metropolitan Opera House

This event will be held at Metropolitan Opera House,

30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York

Admission: Open to the public

Fee: $35.00 and up; Prices vary. Purchase on the web site below.

Phone: (212) 362-6000

Web Address: https://www.metopera.org/season/2025-26-season/madama-butterfly/?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22712030296

We The Italians —Who We Are And What We Stand For

January 10 (Saturday) 12:00-4:00pm

This presentation will explore the ancient roots of Italy and its people. We will highlight its remarkable beginnings to its modern-day republic and why the DNA of Italy and Italians is so unique.