Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, impresario, and Roman Catholic priest.  He was Venitian by birth.  Vivaldi composed concertos, for the violin and a variety of other musical instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas.

Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children. Vivaldi had worked there as a Catholic priest for 18 months and was employed there from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. He also had some success with some elaborate stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna.