Francesca Thompson has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician with many distinguished groups, including The Bach Players, the Fitzwilliam Quartet and the Endymion Ensemble, the last of whom she performed and recorded with for the BBC Proms. She has performed in Cadogan Hall, the Purcell Room, on Dutch, German, Polish and Swiss radio, on BBC Radio 3 and 4, in Amsterdam’s Bachzaal, at Krakow Early Music Festival, Davos Festival in Switzerland, Amherst Early Music Festival in the U.S.A., the London Handel Festival and St. James, Piccadilly, and as a soloist with the festival orchestra of the Internationale Bachakademie at the Europaisches Musikfest Stuttgart. This summer she was invited to perform an evening of concertos with members of Capella Cracoviensis at the ‘Music in Ancient Krakow’ Festival in Poland, which was received with great critical acclaim.
With her chamber ensemble La Follia, Francesca has performed throughout the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, including engagements at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the London Handel Festival, the Utrecht Early Music Festival Fringe, Musica Antiqua Festival in Brugge, and the Telemann Festtage in Magdeburg, Germany. The group won the 2004 Century Early Music Prize, and were prize winners in the Internationale Telemann –Wettbewerb 2007. The group has also appeared several times on BBC Radio 3’s live In Tune programme and at the prestigious Early Music Network Showcase 2006.
Francesca is currently completing her studies with Walter van Hauwe at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and the Norfolk Youth Music Trust. Prior to this, she studied at Cambridge University and as a scholar at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. She has also won awards from the EMI Music Sound Foundation, the Finzi Trust, the Hattori Foundation, the Society of Recorder Players, the Tillett Trust and the Wolfson Foundation. Having won the RCM Concerto Competition, the first recorder player ever to do so, Francesca consequently appeared an unprecedented three times as soloist with the RCM Baroque Orchestra. She recently repeated this achievement by winning the Zinetti Competition/Masi Foundation Prize 2006, leading to a tour of Italy in 2007.
Francesca has recently been invited to take part in the renowned Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, and in Summer 2006 was awarded a full scholarship to attend the renowned Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany. She has just recorded her debut CD of early Baroque Italian music with the harpsichordist Francesco Corti, with whom she is also currently working on a new programme of works for recorder and harpsichord.
With her chamber ensemble La Follia, Francesca has performed throughout the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, including engagements at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the London Handel Festival, the Utrecht Early Music Festival Fringe, Musica Antiqua Festival in Brugge, and the Telemann Festtage in Magdeburg, Germany. The group won the 2004 Century Early Music Prize, and were prize winners in the Internationale Telemann –Wettbewerb 2007. The group has also appeared several times on BBC Radio 3’s live In Tune programme and at the prestigious Early Music Network Showcase 2006.
Francesca is currently completing her studies with Walter van Hauwe at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and the Norfolk Youth Music Trust. Prior to this, she studied at Cambridge University and as a scholar at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. She has also won awards from the EMI Music Sound Foundation, the Finzi Trust, the Hattori Foundation, the Society of Recorder Players, the Tillett Trust and the Wolfson Foundation. Having won the RCM Concerto Competition, the first recorder player ever to do so, Francesca consequently appeared an unprecedented three times as soloist with the RCM Baroque Orchestra. She recently repeated this achievement by winning the Zinetti Competition/Masi Foundation Prize 2006, leading to a tour of Italy in 2007.
Francesca has recently been invited to take part in the renowned Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, and in Summer 2006 was awarded a full scholarship to attend the renowned Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany. She has just recorded her debut CD of early Baroque Italian music with the harpsichordist Francesco Corti, with whom she is also currently working on a new programme of works for recorder and harpsichord.