Rita Brondi

Maria Rita Brondi (5 July 1889 – 1 July 1941) was an Italian guitarist, lutenist, singer, composer, and music historian.

Early life
Maria Rita Brondi was born in Rimini. She studied guitar with Luigi Mozzani, and with Francisco Tárrega; she studied voice with Paolo Tosti in England. Tárrega dedicated a solo guitar composition to Brondi.

Career
Brondi toured in Europe as a guitarist and singer, known for singing Italian regional folk songs. She was also a composer of guitar works. She wrote a book on the history of the guitar, titled Il liuto e la chitarra (1926), which was published in several editions through the twentieth century. She was mentioned as a peer of Italian musicians (1878–1972) and Geni Sadero (also known as Eugenia Scarpa, 1886–1961), though both of them outlived her. Julian Bream mentioned her as making early lute recordings, in company with Suzanne Bloch and Diana Poulton.

Personal life
Brondi died at age 51 in Rome, in 1941. Her compositions are still played and recorded, for example on a collection titled Guitar Music by Women Composers (2009), by Dutch guitarist Annette Kruisbrink.