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Cellist Anne Francis has combined her “light, fleet touch” (Charlotte Observer) and “searing cello” (Deseret Morning News) in performances since her debut at age 10 on the international stage of the Inaugural World Cello Congress. Winner of the Darius Milhaud Performance Prize and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Anne has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall in New York to a Maori Longhouse in New Zealand, firmly establishing herself as a leading educator and artist of her generation.
A strong advocate of National Public Radio, Ms. Francis can be heard frequently in the eclectic recordings of “The NPR Cellos”. Other collaborations have included pianists Wu Han, Joseph Kalichstein, and Mischa Dichter, as well as violinist Donald Weilerstein on New York’s famed Schneider Series. Her tour of the Balkan Sates as a ‘Carnegie Fellow’ (sponsored by the US State Department and Carnegie Hall) led to the European premiere of Marc Scearce’s “Y2K” and performances for diplomats and ambassadors in Sarajevo, The Republic of Yugoslavia, and Slovenia. Ms. Francis has strived to connect with composers of our time since her days as a conservatory student, commissioning a piece for solo cello from composer Ryan Beard, and working with leading composers Donald Erb, Bernard Rands, and Ned Rorem.
Beginning the cello at age four, Ms. Francis later became one of the youngest members of the Kalamazoo Symphony, performing in the cello section while still in high school. Ms. Francis received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she was assistant to Paul Katz. Her principal teachers have included Richard Aaron, Alan Harris, Bonnie Hampton and Bruce Uchimura, and her major chamber music mentors include the Cleveland, Emerson, Juilliard, and Orion String Quartets.
Cellist of the Fry Street Quartet since 2000, Ms. Francis teaches on the faculty of the Caine School of the Arts at Utah State University. Anne resides in Logan, Utah with her two cats Lilly and Chaussettes, and spends her spare time supporting the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, running, hiking, and enjoying the thrills of cooking. Ms. Francis performs on a Carl Becker, Sr. cello dated 1926 and a bow by A. Vigneron, Paris. |