Giovanni Croce was a direct pupil of Gioseffo Zarlino, his fellow native of Chioggia. In 1565, when Croce was eight years old, Zarlino brought him from the choir of Chioggia Cathedral to Venice and admitted him as an alto boy singer into the chapel of St. Mark’s, where Zarlino served as maestro di cappella. Zarlino personally oversaw his early musical training, shaping Croce’s formative education within the prestigious Venetian institution.
During the years Croce spent under Zarlino’s direction at St. Mark’s, he absorbed both the practical discipline of singing and the stylistic foundations of the Venetian school. This early mentorship laid the groundwork for Croce’s later career, and after Zarlino’s death in 1590 Croce succeeded him indirectly by becoming vice-maestro di cappella in 1595, advancing within the same musical establishment where Zarlino had first trained him.
