Equally at home with both contemporary and early music, Francesca Thompson has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, including recent performances at the BBC Proms, the Purcell Room, Cadogan Hall, the London Handel Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Gower Festival, Telemann Festtage, Music in Ancient Krakow Festival, Krakow Early Music Festival, Davos Festival, the Gaudeamus Muziekweek and Amherst Early Music Festival (U.S.A.). As concerto soloist, she has appeared with the festival orchestra of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (DE), with members of Capella Cracoviensis (PL), the Al-Kamandjati Camerata (IL) and with many orchestras throughout the UK. Forthcoming engagements include solo recitals in England and Scotland with the harpsichordist Francesco Corti, performances of contemporary music in the U.S.A., a recording of early and contemporary music in Poland, and premieres of new works for recorder by composers from Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the U.S.A.
Francesca studied with Walter van Hauwe at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund. Prior to this, she studied at Cambridge University and as a scholar at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. Whilst at the RCM, she won the College Concerto Competition, the first recorder player ever to do so.
A recipient of awards from the EMI Music Sound Foundation, the Finzi Trust, the Hattori Foundation, the Society of Recorder Players, the Tillett Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and the prestigious Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany, Francesca was also a member of the renowned Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme from 2007-2009. In 2009, she won second prize at the International Competition for Contemporary Music in Krakow, Poland, and in 2006 was awarded the first prize of the Zinetti Competition/Masi Foundation. With her chamber ensembles, she also won the Century Early Music Prize 2004, and third prize at the Internationale Telemannwettbewerb in 2007.
Francesca studied with Walter van Hauwe at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund. Prior to this, she studied at Cambridge University and as a scholar at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. Whilst at the RCM, she won the College Concerto Competition, the first recorder player ever to do so.
A recipient of awards from the EMI Music Sound Foundation, the Finzi Trust, the Hattori Foundation, the Society of Recorder Players, the Tillett Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and the prestigious Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany, Francesca was also a member of the renowned Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme from 2007-2009. In 2009, she won second prize at the International Competition for Contemporary Music in Krakow, Poland, and in 2006 was awarded the first prize of the Zinetti Competition/Masi Foundation. With her chamber ensembles, she also won the Century Early Music Prize 2004, and third prize at the Internationale Telemannwettbewerb in 2007.