Maria Theresia von Paradis was an Austrian composer, pianist and singer born in Vienna in 1759 who pursued a musical career in the Classical era despite losing her sight in early childhood. Her output included keyboard pieces, songs and incidental theatre music rooted in Classical-era forms and salon practice, and she performed and taught across Europe, playing a role in the visibility of blind musicians and women composers in late 18th- and early 19th-century musical culture.
