Business
Steve Acunto is founder and president of CINN Group, Inc., with holdings in the publishing, insurance, and management fields. Mr. Acunto has received numerous business accords and appears frequently as a speaker before professional organizations in the U.S. and Europe on corporate responsibility, medical malpractice and other topics. He has served as Executive Vice President, Managing Director, Insurance Federation of New York, Inc. since 1984; and is President and Managing Director of The International Insurance Law Society U.S. on whose International Presidential Council he serves. He is Chairman of the American Health Insurance Company (Delaware) and has served on the Boards of several companies, including Brioschi Pharmaceuticals.
Since 1978, CINN's publishing activity has centered upon the acquisition, development, retention or sale of dozens of established publications, retaining the three most successful of them. CINN serves as the management for several international and national businesses and professional organizations such as the American Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS US), The Society of Insurance Financial Managers (SIFM), the Insurance Federation of New York, Inc. and other such entities.
CINN's Capolavori Productions, Inc., is a commercial producer of concerts, cultural events and theatrical productions and includes an investment section holding intellectual property and production and publishing rights to an inventory of plays, books and films. Most recently, the company co produced the award-winning Lily of the Feast with Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco and Federico Castelluccio and developed Where's Willie with Chazz Palmentieri.
Cultural Diplomacy
As Chairman of the Italian Academy Foundation, Inc., founded in 1947, Mr. Acunto has been an advocate of Italian art, artists and intellectuals, creating and using the term "cultural diplomacy" to characterize the IAF's work. Under his aegis, the IAF has sponsored, co-sponsored or produced more than 100 cultural events of various types, including rare opera performances such as Rossini's La Cambiale di Matrimonio at Lincoln Center, the gala Carnegie Hall appearance of Uto Ughi and the Festival Philharmonic, the first US performance of Sammartini's opera Memet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Italian tour of the Magical Strings Orchestra of Chicago, the prestigious annual international festival and competition Concerti in Villa in Vicenza, as well as nearly 50 concerts at Carnegie Hall from 1988 to 2011, featuring major classical musical artists and performers in career launching US premieres. The IAF has sponsored congresses on Cavalcanti and Pound at NYU, on Verdi, notably the tri-city Celebrations and Congresses on the anniversary of Verdi's death in 2001 (Parma, New York and Yale University in New Haven) and on Caravaggio and others. IAF published the first ever Bibliography of Italian American Writers for the IAWA. The IAF has organized the Rome-New York 2000 initiative and published the full length Faces of Imperial Rome. The 52 year old Italian Journal is published quarterly by the IAF. The IAF undertook and completed the restoration of La Follia, the legendary century year old magazine supported by Enrico Caruso and Banca Berardini, owned by Mr. Acunto's great grandfather, converting it from print to digital to ensure its preservation. The IAF has presented numerous scholarships for students for study in Italy. In 2011, IAF sponsored the Bergamo Festival of the Arts and the Ercolano Festival. In 2008, the IAF sponsored twelve US students to study and work at the archeological site at Alba Fucens in L'Aquila. IAF has sponsored and housed more than 25 students and artists in New York, to advance their studies and careers. As Chairman, Mr. Acunto serves on the juries of three annual international opera competitions co-sponsored by the IAF.
Mr. Acunto co-chaired the New York visit of Hon. Gianfranco Fini and the dinner for 1,200 people at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, February 4th 2010. Following the recent earthquake in Abruzzo, Mr. Acunto was among the region's featured advocates appearing in the New York Times, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, USA Today and RAI3 owing in great measure to the role played by his great grandfather in restoring much of La Marsica after the earthquake of 1916. Mr. Acunto assisted in the current effort.
At suggestion of the Consul General Francesco Maria Talo, in 2008 the IAF initiated LYNX XXI which takes its name and motive from the legendary 17th century Accademia dei Lincei which, in turn, focused upon the sciences, scientific inquiry and other branches of learning as they impacted discovery. A lecture series, publications, scientific exchange and venture capital interests are the substance of LYNX XXI. Most recently, IAF was among the sponsors of the conference on Crisis Management at Columbia taking its motive from the experiences of disaster in Italy in Messina in 1909 and elsewhere later.
The documentary film "The Healer's Art" created jointly with Dr. Frances Mosca of Pisa, Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi of Weill Cornell in NY and Maestro Andrea Bocelli is the latest LYNX project.
Service
Great grandson of Michele Berardini, the first among the most successful Italian merchant bankers to open branches in the U.S. in the late 1800's and the creator of patented international money transfer systems, Mr. Acunto remains active as a volunteer in Italian cultural and public affairs in the tradition of his forbearers.
Mr. Acunto serves as Hon. Vice Consul for the Republic of Italy in New York State, with consular offices in Westchester County; he was appointed in April, 2003. He is a member of the Consular Corps College. Among his recent accomplishments in this role is the realization of the Fenimore Cooper Museum's landmark 2009 show entitled America's Rome: American Artists in the Eternal City 1800-1900. Mr. Acunto delivered the highly acclaimed Annual Keynote Address to open the show before 300 members of the New York Historical Society on July 24th in Cooperstown, NY entitled: Roma non sponte sequor. The show proved a "blockbuster" for this mid sized museum and brought Italy's art and influence far outside its usual circumference in New York.
In his Vice Consular role, Mr. Acunto has co-produced the Saratoga Food and Wine Festival with the Italian Trade Commission for three years.
Mr. Acunto serves as a Trustee of the John Cabot University of Rome and Chairman of its Audit Committee and has served as a Trustee of the College of Mt. St. Vincent and as a Trustee of the State University of New York (SUNY), Westchester Community College. He is Chairman of the Board of the Montfort Academy, the classical Roman Catholic prep school in Katonah, NY. He has actively participated in the Salzburg Seminar. Since 1996, Mr. Acunto has served on the Board of Trustees of La Scuola, New York, the Italian prep school serving New York's East Side and is presently its Vice Chairman. He serves on the Board of New York University's Casa Italiana and has served as Chairman of the American Institute of Verdi Studies at N.Y.U. publishing Verdi, the Institute's musicological and historical quarterly. Mr. Acunto is Honorary Member of the Tiro a Segno Club, the oldest Italian featured club and rifle society outside Italy. He is a Trustee of the American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit and is creator and editor of its quarterly, Il Cavaliere. He is a member of Gruppo Esponenti Italiani, and a board member of the Council of Presidents of Italian Organizations.
Recognition
Mr. Acunto was decorated with the rank of Commendatore, Order of Merit, Republic of Italy. In 2010, he received Italy's Star of Solidarity, grande ufficiale, (Stella della Solidarita). He holds the rank of Cavaliere, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, the dynastic order of the House of Savoy. He received the Dante Society's Annual Achievement Award in 2010.
Education
Mr. Acunto holds his B.A. and M.A. degrees (1971, 1973) in classical philology from New York University. He is fluent in English, Italian, French and German. He is the author of Westchester County, a History and Appreciation, (Windsor Books, Whittier, CA 1991) and is editor of several art books, including: Giobbi: Representative Work; New York Colors, an Impressionist's Ode to the City; Imaginal Realism ('Realism Immaginale'), the first introduction to this landmark artistic movement in English; and Urban Archaeology, an anthology of the work of Giorgio Radicati. A continuing special interest in music stems from his grandfather, Prof. Stefano Acunto, who performed on New York's and Italy's concert stages and composed "Young America" and other musical works for piano and voice. Mr. Acunto has himself appeared on the stage in Carnegie Hall in a co-performance of Messaien's piano work, and with Luciano Pavarotti, Roberto Benigni, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Carlo Bergonzi and many other stars as host, and as subject or host of several broadcast interview programs on cultural topics. Mr. Acunto has just completed the narration of Pane Amaro, a feature documentary on immigration, and is featured in the upcoming documentary From Gridiron to the Opera.
Personal
Mr. Acunto and his wife, Carole Warren Haarmann, have long been active in charitable and civil groups, notably The Quadrille Society of New York's Bal d'Europe, the United Nations Women for Peace Committee, Saratoga Polo, the Alliance Defense Fund, the Center for Security Policy and the National Women's Republican Club. They actively support the Metropolitan Opera and "One Bright World," the initiative to bring aid to children in Liberia.
Mr. and Mrs. Acunto reside in Park Hill, Yonkers, N.Y. Their daughter, Claudia Palmira, resides in Rome, Italy, with her husband, Mauro Benedetti and their son, Ludovico; their son, Stephen, and his wife, Dr. Veronica White, and their son, Enrico Stefano, live in New York City. The Acunto's are communicants of Saint Agnes Church in Manhattan.