Claudia Sessa

Claudia Sessa (c. 1570 – c. 1617/19) was an Italian composer and singer/instrumentalist.

She was born into the (de) Sessa family, a patrician clan of the Milanese aristocracy.

A nun at the convent of S. Maria Annunciata, she composed two sacred works published in 1613.

[1] The dates of her birth and death are uncertain.

[2] Gerolamo Borsieri wrote a long and glowing description of her (quoted in "Women Composers: Music Through the Ages"),[3] including that she sang and accompanied herself so well "that there was not a singer who could equal her" and that nobility in Parma and Mantua liked her singing more than "Claudio Monteverdi [or] any other musician in the recitative style..."[3] Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including: