Elisabetta de Gambarini was an English composer, mezzo-soprano, organist, harpsichordist, pianist, orchestra conductor and painter of the 18th century. Elisabetta's music is considered late Baroque and Classical music. She achieved distinction as an all-around musician, performing on, and composing for a variety of instruments as well as voice. Her compositions were known to reflect that of vocal work instead of instrumental patterns. She was the first female composer in Britain to publish a collection of keyboard music. Gambarini was born September 7, 1730, in Middlesex, England. Her father was a nobleman from Lucca, Italy. Her mother may have been a tutor to the nobility but it is not certain. Elisabetta was the third of four children and the only sibling to survive to maturity. She began her career singing in Handel’s Occasional Oratorio, and later performed in Judas Maccabaeus and Joseph and his Brethren. Her name also appears in scores of Handel’s Samson and Messiah. By 1748 Gambarini's reputation allowed her to promote and perform her own benefit concert. She sang and played her own compositions with the organ. She also issued her first two volumes of music. She was the first female composer in Britain to publish a collection of keyboard music, The Six Sets of Lessons for the Harpsichord, published in her teens, was dedicated to the Lady Viscountess Howe of the Kingdom of Ireland. Later that year she published Lessons for the Harpsichord Intermix’d with Italian and English Songs, dedicated to the Prince of Wales.