Maria Anna Mozart

Hello, my name is Maria Anna Mozart, but my family always called me by my special nickname, Nannerl. I was born on a summer day, July 30th, 1751, in a beautiful city in Austria called Salzburg. Our home was always filled with music because my father, Leopold, was a wonderful musician and composer. He was also my very first teacher. When I was just seven years old, he began teaching me how to play the harpsichord, which is an instrument that looks a bit like a piano. I loved it right away. My fingers seemed to dance across the keys, and I practiced very hard to play perfectly. Soon, I had a little brother named Wolfgang. He was very talented, too, and loved music just as much as I did. He would listen to me play for hours. We spent many happy times playing music together, filling our house with beautiful sounds and melodies.

My brother Wolfgang was so talented that he soon joined me in making music. Our father was so proud of us. In 1762, he decided the whole world should hear us play. So, we packed our things and began a grand tour all across Europe. We rode in a bumpy carriage for many miles to visit big, busy cities like Vienna and Paris. It was very exciting. We performed for very important people, including kings and queens in their fancy palaces. I played some of the most difficult pieces of music on the harpsichord, and sometimes I would even sing. My brother and I would play together, and the audiences were always amazed by our music. They would clap and cheer for us, which made all the long hours of practice feel worth it. Seeing so many new places and sharing my music was a wonderful adventure for a young girl.

As I grew older and became a young woman, things started to change for me. In those days, it was not very common for women to have careers traveling and performing music for everyone. My father decided that it was time for my brother's music to be the main focus for our family. Around the year 1769, when I turned eighteen years old, my public performances stopped. It was sad to leave the stage, but I never, ever stopped loving music. My passion for playing the harpsichord stayed with me. I even composed my own songs, creating beautiful melodies that came right from my heart, even if only a few people got to hear them.

Later in my life, I found a new way to share my love for music. I got married and settled back down in my hometown of Salzburg. There, I became a music teacher. It brought me so much joy to teach my students how to play the piano and watch them discover their own musical talents. I lived to be 78 years old, and my life was always filled with melody. Today, I am remembered as a brilliant musician in my own right and as the sister of the very famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. My story reminds everyone that it is important to follow your passion and to share your special talents with the world in any way you can.