Gagnon, Francesca

Born in Jonquiere , Quebec , Canada . Francesca began learning to play the piano and dance at the age of 10. Her interest in the profession related to art manifested in 1980, when she began to study music at the University of Quebec . Her first appearances were on television, followed by live performances in Quebec , Europe and Africa . At that moment, she was also enthusiastically engaged in Hatha Yoga and African dances. In 1985, after the release of her first album, Francesca was nominated for Breakthrough of the Year in the Female Vocal category.

From 1986 to 1993, Gagnon sang in television shows and performed at various festivals in his native Canada , as well as Europe . She managed to record two albums during this period. Songs instantly hit the first lines of the music charts. The singer’s career successfully developed, but in September 1993 a tragedy occurred: her father died, to whom she was very attached. She returned to Quebec , suffering a loss. It was at this time that one of Francesca’s friends said that Cirque Du Soleil was looking for a singer for his new show. Rene Duperet , a circus composer , was delighted. “This is the voice I was looking for,” he later said in one of his interviews.

In 1994, Francesca became the "White Singer" of the Alegria show and joined the Cirque Du Soleil troupe . Album Alegria became the best-selling album and held on the first line of the American Billboard chat for 65 weeks. The album was even nominated for a Grammy and won the Felix Trophy on the ADISQ Gala, became platinum twice in Quebec , and sold over 1 million copies worldwide! The singer also made her own contribution to the show, writing together with Rene Duperé the song “Malioumba” for the issue “Flying Man”.

Francesca continued her tour with Alegria as a White Singer. During this period, she managed to perform with Jay Leno at The Tonight Show. Gagnon also performed in front of Prince Charles at the Royal Albert Hall .

After she left the circus in order to continue her solo career, she still returned to participate in the 2004 Montreal International Jazz Festival in front of a 200,000th audience. This concert, directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, was released on DVD under the title Midnight Sun.

Meanwhile, in 1999, Gagnon recorded her album Au delà des couleurs , released by the French label BMG. This album was the fruit of a 3-year-old work of the singer together with Rene Duperé, Francis Cowan and electric violinist Hugh Marsh. After a world tour with Cirque Du Soleil, Francesca decided to do something new, and the result of two years of effort was the album "Hybride" . She sings in her own language, which she created, inspired by the musical tones of different languages. The singer explained this by saying that “she wanted to transfer everyone to a world where language exists on a universal level without borders, race, country or word.” Francesca Gagnon: "I love to use my voice as an instrument." In 2010, the singer, together with Inti-Illimani , the vocal and instrumental ensemble of folk music from Chile , released the album Meridiano , which included the most famous songs of Francesca.

• 1985: Magie
• 1988: Francesca
• 1994: Alegria (part of Cirque du Soleil )
• 1999: Au delà des couleurs
• 2004: Le Best of Cirque du Soleil
• 2005: Hybride
• 2010: Meridiano (with Inti-Illimani )
• 2014 Chante-moi une histoire (with René Dupéré )

• Official site
• Alegría official website
• Alegria multimedia
• Francesca Gagnon at the Internet Movie Database
• The official channel of Cirque Du Soleil on youtube