To be born in Parma means that you have music in your blood and that you grow up in a world made of sounds. Of this world you live the thrills and the throbs which originate from the beautiful melodies of that genius of the pentagram called Giuseppe Verdi.
The "Gruppo Appassionati Verdiani" "Club dei 27" draws its inspiration exactly from the great Musician (Master) and it was founded by Carlo Ziveri. This club perhaps is the smallest in the world (for the number of the members), but not for this reason it is the less famous. It is very peculiar and particular and it has called the attention of all the people interested in the opera field. The club has been honored  by many illustrious artists and very famous persons coming from all over the world. The members of the Group appeared in the most popular national and international television programs and the most qualified press has been attracted by them. The name " Club dei 27" ("Club of the 27") derives from the fact that the persons belonging to the named society are exactly 27. The number is fixed and it will be never enlarged because the operas of the " Swan of Busseto" are 27. Each member represents an opera. Therefore, the members have the the name "Nabucco", "Ernani", "Attila", "Otello", "Rigoletto", etc. Among them, there is a "Traviata", but who is a man as well as "Giovanna d’Arco", "Alzira", "Luisa Miller" and "Aida", since any woman does not belong to the group. The "Club dei 27" was founded in 1958 and the members are employees, traders, industrialists, professional men and retired persons. It is a heterogenous group where different classes are represented that had received the "investitura". The seat of the club is very characteristic: it is placed in the city center in an old building and it was made out of  the basement of it. It is really a perfect "Verdi’s Sacrarium", a very suggestive place, where under the vault made of ancient bricks, a bust of the great composer dominates wrapped by a soffused light. Each guest is received in the "Verdi’s haunt" with the "Và pensiero", the famous hymn drawn from "Nabucco" , that inevitably fascinates and moves. The "27"  meet each other punctually every Friday evening to listen to some music andthey discuss animatedly showing high competence and balanced criticism. The "Club dei 27" celebrates Giuseppe Verdi every year solemnly: on January 27^th (death date) and on October 10^th (birth date). On these anniversaries a basket of 27 red roses is laid on the treshold of his native house in Roncole of Busseto (PR). The most compelling organization of the Club is the competition "Tu conosci Verdi?" ("Do you know Verdi?") instituted 15 years ago that proposes to the pupils of the last class of the primary schools of Parma and Province the presentation of compositions and drawings about Verdi and his operas. They would like to transform this contest into an international competition. During its last edititions, its importance was recognized because this Prize was inserted among the official manifesations of the Verdi’s Festival. The "27" instituted also an honor: the "Knighthood of Verdi" and many great artists received it. With their presence in various theater, they exalted Verdi’s music and operas in the world. Under the protection of the "Club dei 27" the Dance School of Cristina Lanzi performs a praiseworthy activity of preparatory dance and it is famous abroad too. On July 25^th 1992 in Caracas (Venezuela) "Los Amigos del Club de los 27" ("The Friends of the 27") sanctioned their constitution officially. The named group is Italo-Venezuelan and they are admirers of the "Club dei 27". On that occasion they gave a bronze bust of the Great Musician" (it is a copy of Gemito) and it is exposed at the entrance of the theater "Teresa Carreno" in Caracas.