BIOGRAPHY

Francine studied classical violin with Helen Ayres at the University of Melbourne (2007-2012) and baroque violin with Lucy van Dael and Walter Reiter at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague (2017-18). During her formative years Francine attended the MacRobertson Girls High School, Victoria's only academically selective entry school for girls, where she was fortunate enough to participate in the school's vibrant and high quality music program. In 2006 she was accepted into the junior academy program at the elite Australian National Academy of Music wherein she took lessons from Mark Mogheilevski and Alice Waten, chamber music lessons with Monica Curro, and participated in weekly performances and masterclasses with visiting international pedagogues. She was awarded the Graeme Askew Memorial Scholarship for Music in 2000, various awards for music and contribution to the music program at MacRob, as well as several prizes in local music eisteddfods.  

 

While studying for her undergraduate music degree, she concurrently completed an Arts degree in Social Science and Gender Studies. In her final year she received first class honours for her dissertation exploring the experience of music performance anxiety in adolescent music students. The findings of this were later presented at the Australian Society for Performing Arts Health conference in Brisbane in 2013. 

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After graduating Francine worked as a freelance violinist and violist across Australia, while building up her presence as a string pedagogue. She held teaching positions at numerous schools across Victoria and Queensland, most notably heading the strings program at the Cairns Hinterland Steiner School between 2013 and 2016. She was fortunate enough to conduct the Cairns String Orchestra between 2014 and 2016, growing the ensemble from small beginnings to a multi-stage, dynamic training orchestra for young people. Keen to provide more educational opportunities for regional string students in the area, in 2016 Francine started the biannual Cairns String Orchestra Workshops, orchestral training intensives for young string players working with mentors from around Australia. Francine has also worked as an orchestral tutor with the Victorian Department of Education's "State School Spectacular," Melbourne Youth Orchestras, Geelong Summer Music Camp, and the Blackburn Summer String Workshop. 

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​In 2017 Francine relocated to The Netherlands where she studied historical violin at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague, performing as a baroque violinist/violist in numerous projects around the Netherlands and Germany. In 2018 she moved to Cambridge, United Kingdom where she taught classroom and instrumental music at the Cambridge Steiner School until 2021. In 2020 she organised and conducted the inaugural Half Term Music School, which offered a four day orchestral workshop for young string students to expand their skills. She currently teaches violin, viola and piano at the Stamford Endowed Schools, runs a busy private teaching studio in Cambridge, and is the Creative Sales Director at Cambridge Strings. She is also completing a Master of Teaching in both primary and secondary settings, a Postgraduate Certificate in Educational Studies, and Professional Certificate in Kodaly Education with the British Kodaly Association. 

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