Melodia Women's Choir Presents GLORIA: LIFTING THE VEIL ON VIVALDI'S MASTERPIECE

Melodia Women's Choir of NYC, led by Artistic Director Cynthia Powell and in collaboration with Director Christa Scott-Reed, brings to life the music and the untold story behind Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria this spring in Gloria: Lifting the Veil on Vivaldi's Masterpiece. Audiences will have the chance to hear the voices of three 18th-century Venetian characters inspired by the real women and girls of the Ospedale della Pietà music conservatory and hear Vivaldi's work performed by an all-female choir and chamber ensemble as it was likely originally composed for the figlie di coro female musicians of the Ospedale della Pietà in 1715.

With more than a hundred commercial recordings of Gloria in existence, this favorite of choral audiences the world over may not be new to listeners, but the story behind it is much less known. Vivaldi, who taught and worked at the Ospedale della Pietà conservatory from 1703-15 and again 1723-40, composed it for its female choir and orchestras. The conservatorio's musicians were comprised of some of the illegitimate, sickly and deformed babies cast off by society and taken in by the ospedale. These were children who might have otherwise met their fate drowned in one of the city's famed canals.

"This is an astounding story that somehow I knew nothing about," said Director Christa Scott-Reed. "And yet at the same time there was a big part of me that wasn't surprised at all to hear hundreds of years later about the massive impact that a group of talented women had in elevating the careers of talented men, without experiencing the same glory and longevity themselves."

"The ospedale not only cared for children, but educated and gave them musical instruction, turning them into some of the finest singers and instrumentalists in all of Europe," said Conductor Cynthia Powell. "Taking a potentially tragic situation and turning it into a wondrous and creative endeavor is what appeals to me about this story. Transforming the lives of youngsters through music can go along way to changing this world."

GLORIA: LIFTING THE VEIL ON VIVALDI'S MASTERPIECE

PROGRAM

Gloria, Antonio Vivaldi, feat. Melodia and an all-female chamber ensemble, conducted by Cynthia Powell

Gloria: The Untold Story, script by Pam McAllister, directed by Christa Scott-Reed

TICKETS

$25/ $20 adv / $15 senior & student

www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/5998

212-757-2945