On Friday March 24th, the Board of Directors of the Paolo Grassi Foundation, composed of Gianfranco Palmisano (Mayor of Martina Franca), Michele Punzi, Rinaldo Melucci, Roberto Venneri and Piermassimo Chirulli met and voted unanimously the new President of the Foundation: Lawyer Michele Punzi.

“I accept this appointment with a great sense of responsibility, aware that I’m not called to replace a man who, for what he has done in 50 years for Italian culture, isn’t replaceable,” says the new President Michele Punzi. “My task is, rather, to preserve the legacy of values that Franco Punzi left to all those who had the privilege of collaborating with him. The challenge doesn’t scare me, because I feel the strong support of all the members of the Board of Directors of the Paolo Grassi Foundation, who honored me with their unanimous vote, and because I know I can count on the enthusiasm and professionalism of all the collaborators of the Foundation and the Festival della Valle d’Itria. In the wake of the teachings of President Franco Punzi, we must now look to the future with renewed optimism, and with the aim of making this cultural institution increasingly prestigious”.

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Michele Punzi, 47, is the owner of an associated law studio in Martina Franca. He works as a lawyer in the civil field, preferring corporate law and corporate reorganizations and restructuring; since 2015 he has been authorised to practise before the Court of Cassation and the Superior Courts, and is registered in the Register of Civil Mediators, in the Register of Over-indebtedness Crisis Managers and in the Register of Judicial Administrators. As part of his professional activity, he has received assignments from the Ministry of Economic Development, the Court of Taranto and public bodies, as well as being appointed to various Board of Directors of companies and having collaborated with a leading Italian banking institution. He is a member of the Italian Chamber of Conciliation, a mediation body accredited by the Ministry of Justice, as well as of Apulia Invest, a consulting company for the development of innovative projects. In 2018 he was elected member of the Disciplinary Council of the Lawyers of the District of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto, being among the youngest in Italy to hold this role. After a youthful experience in the press office of the Festival della Valle d’Itria, for a decade he was its legal advisor, providing pro bono activities, before becoming an integral part of the organizational structure in 2010. Since 2018 he sits on the Board of Directors of the “Paolo Grassi” Foundation, as President of the homonymous Artistic Music Centre.