1800. Mute Terasa is a servant at Venice’s Sant Ignazio College, a religious institution for girls overseen by stern priest Perlina. Tasked with only the most menial of duties, Teresa is punished for any form of transgression, but observes the orphanage orchestra from the sidelines, and years to take part. When news arrices of an imminent visit by the newly enthroned Pope, the college is thrown into chaos. With Perlini distracted by the struggle of writing a new Baroque composition to mark the occasion, Teresa finds a hidden piano in the storeroom. Soon, she and a quartet of students begin secretly gathering each night to take turns on the instrument, their ecstatic clandestine sessions quickly setting them on a new path…