Zodiac Animalia

Jessica Wells was born in 1974 in Florida, USA. When she was eleven years old, Jessica migrated to Australia and is now based in Sydney. Jessica studied composition at university and after she graduated with a Master’s degree in composition, Jessica went on to teach composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for several years.

Jessica composes for many styles of music, including classical chamber ensemble and orchestral works, commercial music and film scores. Jessica is also a music producer and runs her own company, Jigsaw Music. Jigsaw Music provides a specialist music arranging and score preparation service for composers across the world.

Zodiac Animalia was written in 2017 for an orchestral workshop, and subsequently revised. The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra recorded Zodiac Animalia in 2019 for ABC Classic. In this set of twelve short movements, Jessica experiments with orchestration and tempo to capture what she perceives to be each animal’s character.

Worksheet for Primary classrooms

Step 1. Watch the video to meet composer Jessica Wells

Step 2. Listen to the TSO recording of Zodiac Animalia

Step 3. Answer 10 questions

Step 4. Download a Word Search