GRACE FRANCIS
Piano Grace Francis was born in East London and attended the Yehudi Menuhin School before studying with Irina Zaritskaya at the Royal College of Music, where she was awarded the Chappell Gold Medal, the highest award for a pianist. She subsequently received a Wingate Scholarship to continue her studies with Martino Tirimo – with whom she is still studying. Among other prizes, she is a winner of the Negrada Piano House Heferer Award at the EPTA International Competition in Zagreb . Grace has given many concerts in Britain : at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall for the Kirckman Concert Society; at the Barbican; in St Peter’s, Belsize Square ; St Martin-in-the-Fields; at St James’, Piccadilly; and for the Bedwyn Music Society. She has also made broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 of works including Bartok’s Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.12. Her repertoire is wide-ranging and varied (taking in Haydn, Carl Vine and Colin McPhee), but she is happiest with the Romantic composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2002, following her recital for the City Music Society in January (performing Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition) and a recital for the Chopin Society in April, engagements included a performance of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto in late June, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in September. At the end of 202, Grace made another broadcast for BBC Radio 3 consisting of works by Chopin, John Field and Vitéslav Novák, and in January of 2003 she played Brahms’s First Piano Concerto at St John’s , Smith Square . In addition to recording a further recital for BBC Radio 3, Grace’s concerts included recitals at Dorset County Museum , Sevenoaks Music Club and a performance as soloist with the Ipswich Orchestra conducted by Adam Gatehouse. This year Grace gave recitals at the Rosehill Theatre, Cumbria; Warwick University ; L.S.E and at the home of Bob Boas (in aid of Pictures in Hospitals). In 2005, Grace’s recital appearances include the Chopin Society (January 16th) and St John’s , Smith Square (lunchtime, February 17th). ‘Grace Francis is a phenomenon. Technically, there seems to be nothing she can’t play. But more than that, there is a force in her, a compulsion, that gives her performances uncommon fire and energy.’ David Cairns Senior Music Critic, The Sunday Times “It was a performance that demonstrated first rate technical control and considerable subtlety. Her playing throughout was underlined by a total self-assurance and there was not a flicker of hesitation when it came to acute technical difficulty.” Hampstead & Highgate Express ‘It took only a few bars of Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Paganini to convince me that I was witnessing the dawn of what must surely prove an outstanding career. As this great work unfolded to a riveted audience, it was the marriage of superb technique and soaring musical imagination that lifted the spirit… I shall be haunted by this recital’s rich beauty for a very long time.’ Geoffrey Crankshaw Musical Opinion J Audrey Ellison International Artists' Management Member of International Artist Managers’ Association 135 Stevenage Road, Fulham, London, SW6 6PB, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)20 7381 9751 Fax: +44 (0)20 7381 2406 E-Mail: Audrey@Ellison-Intl.Freeserve.co.uk Cellists Cello & Organ/Harpsichord Chamber Ensembles Cimbalom Composers Conductors Euphonium Guitarists Harpists Harpsichord Orchestras Organists Pianists Piano Accompanists Piano Duo Violinists Violists |