This year's ABC poll of Australia's favourite classical music, the Classic 100, revealed the most entries composed by women ever: 11 works by seven different composers.

Every year the poll has a different theme, and it's no surprise that this year's piano theme yielded this result. There is a centuries-long connection of women and the piano since Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the instrument in 1700.

From Pride and Prejudice to Bridgerton, our favourite period dramas are sprinkled with scenes of young women playing the piano for themselves, or showing off their talents in company of guests.

But women in the 18th and 19th centuries were only encouraged to learn the piano in private while barred from performing in public.

The votes are in, and Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, the 'Emperor' has topped the Classic 100: Piano. Find out all the results from the countdown.

When asked about this dichotomy, pianist and ABC Classic's Night Music presenter Sonya Lifschitz explains: "[The barriers] were more of a social and cultural constructs."

Lifschitz highlights virtuosos like Maria Anna (Nannerl) Mozart, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn who had undeniable talents, but faced limitations because of their gender.

Although they are celebrated today, unravelling the social constructs holding them back has taken generations of female pianists and composers. They continue to push boundaries and inspire others to follow their footsteps.

The piano in private versus public settings

Maria Anna Mozart initially received high praise during the family's grand tour of Europe. One newspaper described Mozart as "a girl 11 years of age who can perform on the harpsichord or the fortepiano the most difficult sonatas and concertos by the greatest masters."

But Mozart, who remained a dedicated pianist throughout her life, didn't attain the recognition achieved by her younger brother, Wolfgang Amadeus. By the age of 15, her performing career was over.

She continued to teach the piano and compose after her marriage, but none of her music survived. "When her husband died, [Mozart] went back to performing," Lifschitz says. "And I think she was an absolute role model for people like Clara Schumann."

When Scottish pianist Susan Tomes collated the biographies of 50 pianists in a work titled Women And The Piano, she found many examples of women who had to hide their potential.

Fanny Mendelssohn was explicitly told by her father to put aside dreams of becoming a professional musician like her brother.

It happened to Fanny Mendelssohn, older sister of Felix Mendelssohn. Although she received the same musical education as her brother, her father told Mendelssohn that: "Music may perhaps one day be [Felix's] profession, but for you it can and should only ever be an embellishment."

Mendelssohn organised and performed in private "Sunday afternoon" concerts held in her own home for many years. She couldn't play in public, but she eventually published her compositions under her own name rather than using her brother's.

Trailblazing female pianists

Tomes's book mentions other examples of brilliant achievers, from early adopters of the instrument to a woman who escaped the guillotine to take up a post as professor of the advanced piano class in Paris. Most of these women led musical lives in the privacy of their homes and social circles.

It was Sara Levy, a great aunt of the Mendelssohn siblings, among others, who instilled their love for J.S. Bach's music.

Levy studied with one of Bach's sons and regularly featured his music in her private concerts. At 14, Fanny Mendelssohn could play all of Bach's preludes and Fugues from memory.

A contemporary of Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, claimed the spotlight as a concert pianist for herself after making her debut at the age of nine and performing public recitals for most of her teenage years. Later, Schumann reforged her career as a concert pianist to support her sick husband and children.

"Clara Schumann didn't quite manage to break the barrier of being a composer," Lifschitz reflects. "[Nevertheless], she defied the inertia, prejudices and cultural expectations of her time."

A few years younger than Schumann, British pianist Arabella Goddard also achieved professional success, touring as far as Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand in the 1870s.

But it was 20th century trailblazers and musicians of colour who opened concert stages and conservatoriums to people from diverse backgrounds.

Diversifying the classical music world

Nina Simone is best known as a jazz artist today, but she was also an accomplished classical pianist.

Legendary jazz artist Nina Simone aspired to be America's first black concert pianist. She had to carve her own unique place in the music world because of gender and racial discriminations.

Simone studied at the Juilliard School of music in the 1950s, but was subsequently rejected by the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Throughout her life, Simone maintained that the rejection was due to racial prejudice.

Despite these barriers, Simone went on to be one of the most iconic jazz artists of her time. Her experience playing in clubs and later involvement in the 1960s civil rights movement cemented her legacy in the music world and in many people's hearts.

Reflecting on her own experience moving to Australia from Ukraine, Lifschitz says: "Females that come from different cultural backgrounds have to work twice as hard to access the opportunities they want to have."

Some musicians from diverse backgrounds are still facing routine stereotyping. For Yuja Wang, one of today's leading concert pianists, critical acclaim often comes alongside commentaries about her appearance.

Wang's reviews often mix praise about her superb musical skills with her penchant for flamboyant concert dresses.

"If a beautiful male pianist wears tight pants, I'm not going to think, 'What's in those pants'?" Wang quipped in an interview with The Guardian in 2017. She added: "If I'm going to get naked with my music, I may as well be comfortable while I'm at it."

On the flip side, Lifschitz says: "I think audiences [today] are treating women much more as equal in terms of artistry and musicianship."

The history of the Classic 100 certainly bears this out. When we asked audiences to vote for their favourite piano music in 2004, only Euphemia Allan's Chopsticks made the cut to the top 100.

In 2025, music by composers of yesteryear such as Clara Schumann, as well as living Australian composers including Sally Whitwell, Elena Kats-Chernin and Nat Bartsch, made the list of Australia's favourite piano music.

We've come a long way when it comes to recognising talent irrespective of gender or other attributes, Lifschitz says. But she warns people not to get complacent.

Audiences and artists have a role to ensure anyone can pursue their dream to become a pianist, Lifschitz says. "The curiosity, the open-mindedness, the risk-taking for music that's less familiar are the biggest gifts you can give."

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Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.