The 2021 book Women’s Music for the Screen: Diverse Narratives in Sound, edited by Felicity Wilcox, reported that only 13 percent of Australian screen composers identified as women.

Adding insult to injury, it also noted that the projects for which female composers were selected were often of a lower status and that women were considered a higher-risk hire than their male counterparts.

It’s timely then that on 8 March, International Women’s Day, the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) is celebrating the achievements of female composers in a concert at Church Street Studios in Camperdown.

Featuring the works of six composers – Caitlin Yeo, Luna Pan, Amanda Brown, Me-Lee Hay,  Yantra de Vilder and Andreé Greenwell – She Plays offers listeners a rare opportunity to experience screen music performed live with visuals.

Ahead of the concert, Limelight speaks to each composer about their compositional processes, and the works in store for She Plays.

Amanda Brown is a highly-accomplished composer and multi-instrumentalist, known broadly for her work as a screen composer and...