Vincenta da Ponte was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, singer and instrumentalist. She was a member of the coro, or music school, of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

's Ospedale della Pietà

Ospedale della Pietà

The Ospedale della Pietà was a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice.Like other Venetian ospedali, the Pietà was established as a hostel for Crusaders...

 during the tenure of Bonaventura Furlanetto as music director. Her origins are unknown, but her surname indicates that she was a member of a patrician family and not a foundling

Child abandonment

Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting them. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. An abandoned child is called a foundling .-Causes:Poverty is often a...

, as were most of the Ospidale's students; consequently, she would have been a tuition-paying student, or would have been awarded a scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

.

As a composer, Da Ponte is known only from an unpublished set of four dances included in a collection of monferrine and composed around 1775; the manuscript is held in the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

.

Da Ponte is one of five composers known to have emerged from the coro of the Ospedale; the others include Anna Bon

Anna Bon

Anna Bon was an Italian composer and performer. Her parents were both involved in music and traveled internationally; her father was the Bolognese artist Girolamo Bon, a librettist and scenographer, and her mother was the singer Rosa Ruvinetti Bon. Anna was born in Russia...

 and the foundlings Agata

Agata della Pietà

Agata della Pietà was an Italian composer, singer, and teacher of music.A foundling admitted in infancy to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, she received thorough musical training from her childhood in the coro, or music school, of the convent; she later became a soprano soloist, singing...

, Michielina

Michielina della Pietà

Michielina della Pietà was an Italian composer, violinist, organist, and teacher of music....

, and Santa della Pietà

Santa della Pietà

Santa della Pietà was an Italian singer, composer, and violinist....

.