Harriet Constable, a journalist with a passion for uncovering stories about remarkable women, discovers a book in Palo Alto about an orphanage in Venice where Antonio Vivaldi taught. Fascinated, she learns that the Ospedale della Pietà, where girls played instruments typically reserved for men, produced some of the 18th century's greatest musicians, including Vivaldi’s favorite student, violin prodigy Anna Maria della Pietà. The author becomes obsessed with the idea that these women may have contributed to Vivaldi’s compositions, despite scholars' skepticism. Inspired by their talent and resilience, she writes a novel, The Instrumentalist, exploring their potential role in shaping Vivaldi’s famous works, including The Four Seasons. 'A chance discovery introduced me to the composer’s work with abandoned children. The more I learned, the more I wondered about the creative role they played in his music.'