Sarah Francis - Impulse


International Oboist Broadcast Artist, Recording Artist, Chamber Musician Professor and Fellow of the Royal College of Music Oboist and Director of the London Harpsichord Ensemble "Brilliantly played by Sarah Francis. . ." The Sunday Times Contact: mdcjohnson@btinternet.com

Biography	Reviews	Concerts	Recordings	Links	Contacts

Performances 2009
4 January, 7.30pm (Recital with Robert Codd, bassoon)	Peckleton Village Hall, Leicester, 7.30pm
8 March, 3.30pm	Northamptonshire, venue to be confirmed
11 March, 8.00pm Albinoni oboe concerto Vivaldi Flute Concerto Telemann oboe d'amore concerto Avison String Concerto Bach Brandenburg No 5 Harpsichord Concerto in A	Ilkley Concert Club Kings Hall ILKLEY
31 March, 1.00pm (The Handel Collection) Handel concerto in G minor for oboe and strings	St Stephen, Walbrook, London
27 - 30 May Poulenc Sonata Quintet "A Portrait of Ann" Quintet for Cor Anglais & String quartet by Simon Rowland Jones with Doric Quartet	Kirker Music Cruise, Dublin and the Channel Islands
6 June (Chamber Concert)	Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
22 July (Masterclass)	IDRS Convention, Birmingham Conservatoire
19 November (with Tagore String Trio)	Dundee Chamber Music Club
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Biography

Sarah Francis was born in London. She was a Foundation scholar at the Royal College of Music and won a Boise scholarship to study in Paris. She started her career as principal oboe in the BBC Welsh Orchestra. She has broadcast regularly for the BBC since the age of 19 in recitals and concerto performances including the Proms where she premiered 'Ariadne' the concerto composed for her by Gordon Crosse. She has played frequently in the South Bank concert halls and toured and broadcast in Germany, Holland, Italy and Switzerland.

Her first solo recording was of Britten's 'Six Metamorphoses after Ovid', which Britten invited her to play at the Aldeburgh Festival and which she has now recorded commercially three times. Her solo recordings for Decca, Hyperion and Unicorn-Kanchana include the oboe concertos of Albinoni, Handel, Telemann and Mozart and 20th century British repertoire by Bax, Britten, Holst, Jacob and Rubbra. Her recordings have been featured many times on Radio 3 and Classic FM.

Major works dedicated to Sarah Francis include concertos by Gordon Crosse, William Mathias and Anthony Payne. She has recently given masterclasses at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Amsterdam Conservatory, the Cologne Hochschule and the Geneva Conservatoire. She is a former Chairman of the British Double Reed Society and has served as juror in the Prague Spring oboe competition.

She is a professor and Fellow of the Royal College of Music.

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Reviews

"Brilliantly played by Sarah Francis, its dedicatee, 'Ariadne' proved one of the best scores ever to have emerged from Cheltenham."
The Sunday Times

"I find it nearly impossible to believe that the Albinoni concertos could be given more musical readings than these."
ALBINONI Oboe Concertos - American Record Guide

"Francis is excellent in the delightful Oboe Quartet"
BBC Music Magazine

"One of the most magical discs of Britten yet made"
BRITTEN Music for Oboe - Fanfare

"Sarah Francis has already recorded oboe concertos by Telemann and she is a superb baroque oboist, at the same time directing the members of the London Harpsichord Ensemble with spirit and finesse. Miss Francis's playing is memorable both for her appealing timbre and her sensitive, lyrical phrasing, where she varies her vibrato with the utmost subtlety. A collection which easily leads the field."
***HANDEL Oboe Concertos and Sonatas
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Latest Recordings
Gordon Crosse Ariadne Oboe Concerto (dedicated to Sarah Francis) Lyrita SRCD 259
Gordon Jacob Gordon Jacob Chamber Music Dutton CDLX 7177
Krommer Oboe Quintets and Quartets Sarah Francis - oboe Tagore String Trio Regis
Telemann Oboe Sonatas Sarah Francis - oboe Jane Dodd - harpsichord Regis Available to buy at tutti.co.uk
Click here to listen to the slow movement from the Sonata in E minor TWV 44:e6

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Links
www.hyperion-records.com	for links to 63 recordings of performances by Sarah Francis
www.jackdaws.org	for information on oboe weekends
www.ism.org	for information on the Incorporated Society of Musicians
www.sarahfrancisoboe.co.uk	for more information about Sarah Francis
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