Pergolesi was the third of four children born to Anna Vittoria Giorgi and Francesco Andrea, who was a geometer for the local nobility, and an administrator for the properties of the Confraternita del Buon Gesù. Pergolesi studied organ and violin under Francesco Santi, the Kapellmeister at the Cathédrale de Jesi. Through his father's connections, Pergolesi attended the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo from 1725 to 1731, where he specialized as a violinist. In his last year at the conservatory, Pergolesi had composed an oratorio and a dramma sacro, and presented both of them to the Neapolitan opera.
In 1732, Pergolesi became Kapellmeister to Ferdinando Colonna of Stigliano, 2nd Prince of Sonnino. In February of 1734, he was appointed Deputy to the Royal Kapellmeister Domenico Sarro. Pergolesi travelled with Prince Colonna to Rome, where he became Kapellmeister to Domenico Marzio Carafa, Duke of Maddaloni, who was a relative of the Prince. Pergolesi eventually returned to Naples, where he worked as an organist for the Royal Chapel, but he had to abandon his post in December of 1735 due to tuberculosis, which he died from in March of 1736, at the age of 26.
