To be broadcast on BBC Four in Spring 2018. Produced and directed by Guy Evans for Douglas Road, part of the Endemol Shine UK Group.

In the conventional history of classical music composition female composers remain a neglected voice, often regarded as occasional eccentrics on the edge of society, their music rarely performed and poorly understood. But the truth is women have always composed, played pivotal roles in their own times, and helped shape and shift the course of musical history.

In this film, soprano Danielle de Niese explores the lives and works of some of these remarkable composers, women who achieved greatness despite the many hurdles that were placed in their way because of their sex, and whose stories and compositions deserve a much wider audience. She brings to light composers including Francesca Caccini, Florence Price and Elizabeth Maconchy – powerful women who challenged authority, creative visionaries who pushed boundaries, brilliant minds who broke the mould of what it was to be a composer – and a woman.

In exploring these neglected biographies, Danielle opens a window onto the different societies and historical eras in which they lived.