Hidden Virtuosas
Symposium
discover the hidden women of the Ospedali
Challenge your understanding of who made music in the past and gain surprising insights about the female performers at the Venetian Ospedali with scholars, performers, and creatives of the Hidden Virtuosas project, moderated by Suzanne Bona (Sunday Baroque).
November 1, 2025
Details
Why was music composed by women not valued past their lifetimes to be preserved in greater quantity? Why did their lives and stories remain silenced for centuries? How can we foster a more inclusive mindset as we consider art of the past today?
We explore these and other questions with the creatives and musicologists behind the Hidden Virtuosas project, moderated by Suzanne Bona (Sunday Baroque).
A Performance Salon with music, food and drinks immediately follows the Symposium in the same venue.
Dates & Tickets
Performers & Creatives
Suzanne Bona (Sunday Baroque), MC
Guest Speakers:
- Vanessa Tonelli (working on the historical intersection between music and gender in the lives of the female musicians at the Ospedali)
- Paula Maust (creator of Expanding the Music Theory Canon and an ongoing exploration of the may unflattering ways men saw and described women musicians throughout history)
- Gwyn Roberts (on performing baroque music composed by women)
- Katerina Kotar (women’s apparel and how that affected their music-making)
- and others.
Major support for Hidden Virtuosas has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Paul M. Angell Foundation, the Coleman-Runyan Family Foundation, and the Presser Foundation.
