A creator of the first opera, Jacopo Peri was member of a noble family. Peri was a student of Cristoforo Malvezzi in Lucca. In 1579 Peri was appointed organist at the Badia in Florence. Together with Giovanni de Bardi, Peri became a member of a group dedicated  to a restoration of Greek tragedy. Peri's compositions are written in the method of monody and declamation, a departure from the contrapuntal technique.