Antonio Vivaldi (vi-VALL-dee) was born in Venice, Italy. On the day he was born an earthquake struck the city. There was a theory that his mother, in her terror, vowed that her son would become a priest if they did not suffer damage. Other people conjecture that he became a priest because training for the priesthood was often the only way for a poor family to obtain free schooling in his day. Violin instruction was included in his education.

Soon after being ordained as a priest he was named as the violin teacher at the Ospedale della Pieta ("Mercy Hospital"), an orphanage for girls in Venice. (Try pronouncing "Ospedale" a few times and you'll see how closely the Italian word resembles the English "hospital.")

Vivaldi was not well suited to the priesthood. He decided instead to devote his life to teaching and composing music. He was a virtuoso violinist, and the girls he taught became very accomplished musicians. It was for these girls that Vivaldi turned out more than 400 concertos (con-CHAIR-toes). He organized concerts, performed by the girls, which drew audiences from all over Europe.

Most of Vivaldi's concertos were written for solo violin but he also liked to experiment with other solo instruments. He wrote concertos for flute, trumpet, and bassoon. He was one of the first musicians to compose music for the newly invented clarinet.

Because Vivaldi had red hair, he went through life bearing the nickname "the red priest." In the pictures you see of Vivaldi he is wearing a wig, as did most composers of the Baroque period. You will be able to identify the Baroque composers if you remember that they are all "Big Wigs." You would find a head of bright red hair if you could only look under Vivaldi's wig!