Guide to Listening: ABC Classic’s Festival of Female Composers and International Women’s Day on ABC Jazz
ABC Classic is celebrating 10 years of celebrating women’s music with its annual Women Composers Festival in 2026.
In 2016, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the network launched a project promoting women’s music in centuries-old classical music.
This has evolved into a multi-day radio festival that will once again take place on the network from March 6-8, where ABC Classic will play music exclusively by women.
Highlights throughout the festival include three “super concerts” that bring together ABC Classic’s live concert recordings showcasing extraordinary female artists and music.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, Swedish vocal quartet Åkervinda performs live in the studio with host Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe.
And the much-loved Hilda‑thon returns on Sunday morning with four back-to-back hours of music by twelfth-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen.
ABC Jazz is also joining the celebrations with a new compilation from the network’s Women of Jazz series, featuring new music from female-led projects across Australia, including saxophonist Tessie Overmyer, vocalist Lauren Kate Henderson, guitarist Jess Green, pianist Lauren Tsamouras and more.
Throughout the month, check out the great Carmen McRae’s work on Jazz Legends and hear from Artist in Residence Hinano Fujisaki.
Monica Trapaga celebrates jazz women from past to present in a special episode of The Dinner Set on March 6.
On International Women’s Day, Australian singer and composer Michelle Nicolle steps up to the microphone for a special selection of Jazztrack, ranging from pioneers such as Mary Osborne to the late Judy Bailey.
Listening Guide
festival leadership
March Carmen McRae in Jazz Legends [ABC Jazz].
2 – 6 March
6am Milestones are being made for women in the classical music industry with Megan Burslem on ABC Classical Breakfast.
9am Russell Torrance features music by Sally Whitwell.
3 p.m. Full-length Album: Neave Trio with Vanessa Hughes Available on ABC Classic Drive.
Monday, March 2
7pm In the Young Performers program with Nina Korbe, all-female young artists play women’s music.
Tuesday, March 3
7pm We profile the career and performances of Mairi Nicolson and American superstar organist Anna Lapwood in 50 Classic Icons.
Wednesday, March 4
7pm Great band music composed and performed by women with Lucas Burns on Bandstand.
Thursday, March 5
7pm Music by Austro-Pacific women in Passenger with Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe.
Women Composers Festival
Friday, March 6
ABC Jazz’s Women of Jazz album has been released.
ABC Classic’s Women of Note album has been released.
13:00 Lunchtime Concert with Genevieve Lang: Enjoy recordings by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Western Australian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, featuring music by Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Elena Kats-Chernin, Katy Abbott, Melody Eötvös and Kate Moore.
3 p.m. Your requests for live music composed by women on ABC Classic Drive with Vanessa Hughes.
7pm Celebrate jazz women from past to present with Monica Trapaga at The Dinner Set [ABC Jazz].
8pm Evening Concert with Joel Carnegie: First Nations compilation concert featuring music by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, Nardi Simpson, Brenda Gifford and Lou Bennett.
23:00 Great soundtrack composed and performed by women on Game Show with Meena Shamaly.
Saturday, March 7
13:00 Lunch Concert with Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe: A collection of recordings by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Western Australian Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and includes music by Elizabeth Younan, Maria Grenfell, Mary Finsterer, Holly Harrison and Miriam Hyde.
5pm Explore ballet music in Music Lesson with Genevieve Lang and Ed Le Brocq with guest composer Elena Kats-Chernin and guest conductor Jessica Gethin.
6pm An all-female collection of music for the screen with Dan Golding in Screen Voices.
8pm The Opera Show with Mairi Nicolson, a celebration of opera arias and music composed by women.
21.00 pm Unsuk Chin’s opera Die dunkle Seite des Mondes, Hamburg State Philharmonic’s two-act opera under conductor Kent Nagano, starring Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg, Saturday Night at the Opera with Mairi Nicolson.
Sunday, March 8: International Women’s Day
02:00 – 06:00 Hilde-thon: Four consecutive hours of music by Hildegard von Bingen.
13:00 Swedish vocal quartet Åkervinda perform live in the studio with Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe
3 p.m. Baroque women with Alice Keath in Sunday Baroque.
4pm Michelle Nicolle presents Jazztrack’s International Women’s Day special [ABC Jazz].
8pm Composer Ella Macens shares some of her favorite women’s compositions and duets with Tamara Anna-Cislowska in Duet.
21.00 pm In Piano Art, Andrea Lam shares some of the best female composers for the piano.
22:00 Grace Williams’ Missa Cambrensis is featured in Singing for God with Stephen Watkins.
