MEET THE EDITORS
PETER CENITI hails from a small fishing village in Calabria. As a youth of small means he displayed
uncanny musical aptitude by designing miniature instruments out of octopus larvae. Later he studied the
triangle. The family import/export business eventually led him to Germany where he found himself, quite
unexpectedly, at the epicenter of the Ofterdingen Phenomenon. Ceniti disappeared, under controversial
circumstances, in the spring of 2004.
PELLE BONO CARIDAD gained a measure of international fame as a soccer player in South
America. While he vacationed in Europe after World Cup competition, circumstances conspired to change
the direction of his career, impelling him to renounce both celebrity status and its monetary rewards.
Unhampered by a complete lack of formal musical training, the ebullient Latino forged for himself, in a matter
of months, an international scholarly reputation in the sphere of Ofterdingen studies second to none. Bono
too is currently missing.
PABLO COOKIE, originally Juan-Pablo de la Cukaracia, studied the cello in his early years in his native
Spain, as well as ballroom dancing. The Gesellschaft’s senior member, Cookie boasts a distinguished list of
publications, mostly in Old Icelandic. He is considered something of an expert on the music of Peter
Cornelius. His hobbies include baking, gardening and Indian martial arts. Cookie recently disappeared
looking for Bono and Ceniti. He was last seen in Russia, just outside St. Petersburg.
PIETRO KENNEDY, the son of Irish and Italian immigrants to the U.S., came to music scholarship by a
circuitous route. As a young man he served in the Navy, the Army and even the Merchant Marines. Later he
worked in New York City as a standup comic and substitute teacher. He met the other members of the
Gesellschaft quite by accident at a brew-fest in Munich in 2004. Kennedy enjoys making music by whistling
down into empty bottles. His favorite composer is “Often der Heinekentrinken.”
PELOG SLENDEROSO was born on the little Indonesian island of Komodo where he learned to
scramble up palm trees to avoid the local giant lizards. Slenderoso, a devout Hindu, enjoys fondu and
rhubarb, and plays a little rebab. He brings to the Ofterdingen studies a dimension of cross-cultural
awareness. Currently his tripartite existence is divided between Muenster, Jakarta and Parsippany, New
Jersey (where he teaches “yogut”).
MAHAMADOU DAFFE , originally Domenico Zipoli, was born in Tuscany in 1688. (The original
family name was Zepoli; they changed it to distinguish themselves from the famous pastry.) Daffe's
adventures are recounted in some detail in The Fountain of Youth (see Publications). He studied
composition with Allessandro Scarlatti and Bernardo Pasquini. Daffe's works have appeared
pseudonymously under the names Cornelius Funfholler and (more rec ently) Ichigo Scracci.
VERONICA C. TESTAGUNA, the first female admitted to the Gesellschaft's ranks, has cultivated
a special relationship with each of her colleagues (though she is emphatically "pro - Bono"). She holds degrees
in theology, icthyology, paleontology and fashion design. Her first book of poetry, "In Prehistoric Times I
was a Fish," is scheduled for publication in early November of 2099.