In the afternoon I went back to the Franciscan church in Naples:... the whole Conservatorio della Pietà, comprising one hundred and twenty children dressed in turquoise uniforms, was turned out... These musical seminars, which in the past produced so many excellent musicians, seem to have degenerated nowadays; yet such institutions, like everything under the sun in point of fact, are bound to have their ups and downs. The day will surely come when they reawaken after lying dormant, like the neighbouring Vesuvius, and indeed with renewed vigour...
Charles Burney, Musical Tour through Italy, 1770

The Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de’ Turchini is the result of the decision of musicians, musicologists and historians of the theatre to pool their personal experiences in research and the performing arts, setting up an interdisciplinary project centred on the history of music and drama in Naples during the Baroque period. The premises of the Centro di Musica Antica are part of a complex of historical buildings (Convent and Church of Santa Caterina da Siena) once known as the Conservatorio della Solitaria. Founded in 1589 at the instigation of the military attaché Don Luigi Enriquez and the Capuchin superior Padre Fregoso, the Conservatorio della Solitaria catered for destitute and orphaned daughters of Spanish troops. In 1613 the Dominican nuns of the Solitaria moved into the premises of what had been the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Vittoria, founded in 1572 by the Spanish commander Don Juan of Austria following his victory in the battle of Lepanto. Thereafter, under the supervision of the Dominican superior Feliciano Zuppardi, the hospice was turned into a convent dedicated to Santa Caterina da Siena. The religious foundation of the Conservatorio della Solitaria, generously endowed over the years by the Spanish viceroys, managed to continue in existence even following the suppression of the religious orders ordered during the Napoleonic occupation. Since 1996, the Centro di Musica Antica has been promoting a wide-ranging cultural project based on the recuperation of the vast musical heritage constituted in Naples during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. This involves identifying and studying the sources for that fertile period of musical and theatrical production, organising concert series featuring the repertoire, and holding seminars and masterclasses in advanced Baroque performance for young musicians and singers. To further its research activities the Centre has set up a proficuous collaboration with prestigious Italian and European institutions including University of Naples "Federico II", Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Fundaciò La Caixa de Barcellona and Fondation Royaumont de Paris. In keeping with the traditional role of conservatoires in Naples, since April 1997 the Centro di Musica Antica has undertaken, on a charitable basis, a comprehensive programme of musical education for musically talented children from the local neighbourhood (the Quartieri spagnoli), which represents a civilizing influence and a beacon of hope in one of the city centre’s most under-priviliged areas. The first significant achievement of this programme has been the creation of a children’s choir called i Figlioli della Pietà de’ Turchini.