Seventeenth-century Italy saw the blossoming of educational opportunities for women, as well as an increase in their intellectually creative activities. Not all girls trained in musical composition became nuns, but the life of an upper-class nun afforded a woman the leisure to learn and pursue music at the same level as her fathers and brothers outside the convent walls.

Sarah Pillow, soprano; Mary Anne Ballard, viola da gamba; Special guest: John Austin Clark, harpsichord

Galileo’s Daughters is inspired by the lives and works of Galileo Galilei, his daughter, Maria Celeste, and the musicians and scientists of their time. Sarah Pillow, soprano, and Mary Anne Ballard, viola da gamba, along with special guests, tell their stories by connecting science with the arts, human thought and faith with intriguing and compelling programs.