Because of his talent and education, Peri was able to study in Florence with Cristofano Malvezzi, and went on to work in a number of churches there, both as an organist and as a singer.

Their work added to that of the Florentine Camerata of the previous decade, which produced the first experiments in monody, the solo song style over continuo bass which eventually developed into recitative and aria.

Peri and Corsi brought in the poet Ottavio Rinuccini to write a text, and the result, Dafne, is seen as the first work in a new form, opera.

This was first performed on 6 October 1600 at the Palazzo Pitti for the wedding of Princess Marie de' Medici and Henry IV.

Few of his pieces are still performed today, and even by the time of his death, his operatic style was looking rather old-fashioned when compared to the work of relatively younger reformist composers such as Claudio Monteverdi.