Orfeo Vecchi was an Italian composer and choirmaster. His most important appointment as choirmaster was at Santa Maria alla Scala, Milan. His extant compositions date as early as 1588. Vecchi was born sometime around the year 1551 and educated in the Vercelli Cathedral. In 1580 Vecchi was nominated by Charles Borromeo for the post of the newly created position of "maestro di cappella" at Santa Maria alla Scala, in good part because of the combination of his youth and training. Borromeo vested him with minor orders in 1581, in order to meet the requirements of a 1565 cathedral rule that stated musicians were to be chosen from clergy.