“A spine-tingling concert for an audience among the first few hundred people in the world to hear a reconstruction of a ‘lost’ 18th century work.” – Elizabeth Quinn, Limelight

Agatha’s Story

Ospedale della Pietà

Agatha’s Story is about the Australian Chamber Choir’s revival of music by a forgotten composer who was abandoned to an orphanage in Venice on the day of her birth in 1712.

This was no ordinary orphanage. At the Ospedale della Pietà, on the banks of the Grand Canal, Antonio Vivaldi was employed to develop an elite music education program, and in so doing, he established one of the world’s first conservatoriums. The all-female orchestra and choir of the Pietà became famous throughout Europe for its excellent performances.

Elizabeth Anderson, manager of the ACC, heard of this during a high school music appreciation class. She was fascinated that at a time when professional orchestras were exclusively a mens’ domain, an orphanage in Venice should have flown in the face of societal norms and included disabled girls and women in its elite all-female ensemble.

Elizabeth spent the rest of the class thinking about this and wondering whether any compositions by those orphans might had survived. She then completely forgot about this until 40 years later.

Looking for additional music to include in a program focussed on Vivaldi, she went in search of music written by the female orphans in the 18th century.

The detective work paid off when she discovered an almost-complete manuscript, Agatha’s Cantata, in a Venetian library.

After some reworking of the music by Elizabeth, the Australian Chamber Choir was invited to Venice to give the European premiere of Agatha’s Cantata with the Venice Conservatorium’s orchestra in the Baroque splendour of the Pisani Palace. This is the only known surviving work written by an orphan of the Pietà. 

AGATHA’S STORY WILL BE BROADCAST ON SBS TV IN 2026.

© Catherine Hunter Productions 2026