Key Facts:
- Sydney Youth Orchestras to perform Jessica Wells' soundtrack to 'Mozart's Sister' on 20 June 2024 at UNSW's John Clancy Auditorium.
- The Maria Anna Mozart Concert Tour aims to highlight gender inequality in classical music, with only 14.6% of works performed by Australian orchestras in 2025 being from female or gender diverse composers.
- The performances combine live orchestral music with film excerpts and narration to tell the story of Maria Anna Mozart, whose talent was overlooked due to historical gender conventions.
- Jessica Wells, recipient of the 2024 Art Music Luminary Award (NSW), composed the score for the AACTA Award-winning documentary.
- The tour includes performances across Australia, with additional shows by Chatswood High Orchestra, Symphony Central Coast, and the Sunshine Coast Symphony Orchestra.
Sydney Youth Orchestras to perform Jessica Wells' soundtrack to the AACTA Award-winning 'Mozart's Sister' on June 20
[Sydney, insert date]: The Maria Anna Mozart Concert Tour is setting out to bring one of history's most extraordinary untold stories to concert halls across Australia, shining a timely spotlight on the persistent gender gap in classical music programming, and featuring a highly anticipated performance by the Sydney Youth Orchestras, bringing Maria Anna Mozart's story to a new generation.
Inspired by the AACTA Award-winning documentary Mozart's Sister, the tour will feature orchestras and ensembles nationwide performing the film's powerful original score live, composed by one of Australia's most celebrated composers, Jessica Wells, with visuals from director Madeleine Hetherton-Miau.
The tour arrives at a critical moment for classical music. In 2025, only 14.6% of works performed by Australian orchestras were composed by female or gender diverse composers, underscoring a deep-rooted issue of representation and diversity across the sector. The Maria Anna Mozart Concert Tour is a direct response to that challenge, drawing on the story of Maria Anna ("Nannerl") Mozart, whose extraordinary talent was erased by the conventions of her time.
Presented as an immersive visual concert, each performance combines excerpts from the AACTA award-winning film, Mozart's Sister, live orchestral performance, and live narration to re-tell Maria Anna Mozart's remarkable life. The program invites audiences to reflect on whose stories are remembered, performed, and celebrated on stages today — and whose have been lost.
Each performing orchestra will also select featured works by diverse composers, reinforcing the tour's mission to champion new and underrepresented voices in the concert hall. The tour is presented with support from Create NSW and the Mindaroo Foundation.
Madeleine Hetherton-Miau, director of Mozart's Sister, says: "Mozart's Sister had such an incredible release, and this tour is a beautiful next chapter. Hearing Jess Wells' score brought to life by orchestras will open Maria Anna Mozart's story to new audiences, and give people a powerful new way to experience her legacy."
The score at the heart of the tour was composed by Jessica Wells, widely regarded as one of Australia's finest composers working across classical, film, and commercial music. In 2025 alone, Wells premiered a new concerto for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and a full-length ballet for West Australian Ballet. She is the recipient of the 2024 Art Music Luminary Award (NSW), recognising her commitment to mentoring and uplifting the next generation of composers.
"Composing the score for Mozart's Sister was a huge privilege!" says Wells. "Too often, brilliant contemporary compositions don't get programmed simply because audiences don't recognise the names behind them. This tour changes that — who doesn't love Mozart? — while championing diverse composers and new work."
The performance by Sydney Youth Orchestras, featuring The Peter Seymour Orchestra conducted by James Pensini and The Richard Gill Chamber Orchestra conducted by Kate Morgan, is happening on 20 June at the John Clancy Auditorium, UNSW, Kensington. It will be preceded by a special Mother's Day performance by Chatswood High Orchestra on Sunday May 10th, and followed by further performances by Symphony Central Coast (June 28) and the Sunshine Coast Symphony Orchestra (October).
Full Tickets & tour info is available at good.film/MariaAnnaMozart.
