Antonio Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico violin concerti are performed by Abendmusik, New York’s period instrument string band. 

In a program dubbed “Girls on Fire!” the group presents the composer’s first collection of printed concerti for one, two, and four violins. Published in Amsterdam in 1711, these concerti are believed to have been performed by the all-female orchestra comprised of students at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. In honor of women everywhere—and in particular Anna Maria della Pietà, an 18th-century violinist, composer, and teacher who was an orphan at the Ospedale—the group will feature a selection of concerti from the entire collection (Concerti 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, and 12).

Dr. Alison Smith, historian of early modern Italy and professor emeritus at Wagner College, will give a short pre-concert talk on Anna Maria and the cultural life of women in Italian convents during the eighteenth century. 

The concert curator is violinist Vita Wallace.

For more details, please visit the event website.