Francesca Gagnon (born August 6, 1957) is a Canadian singer and theatre actress featured in

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

's '' Alegría'' and ''Midnight Sun''. During her career of more than two decades, she has recorded several solo albums and toured three continents singing in French, English, Italian and Spanish.

Background

Born in

Jonquière Jonquière (; ; 2021 population: 60,250) is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Saguenay River, near the borough of Chicoutimi. History Jonquière ...

, Quebec, Francesca Gagnon began studying piano and dance from the age of ten. This interest in the arts carried over into adulthood where she continued her study of music at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...

. Her first musical performances were on television, followed by live solo performances in Quebec, Europe, and Africa. In 1986, after recording her first album, Francesca received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for "Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year". In 1994, Francesca joined Cirque du Soleil's ''Alegría'' troupe. She featured as the principal vocalist on ''Alegrías soundtrack, which went on to become Cirque du Soleil's best-selling album. It was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

and several

Félix Awards Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

in 1995, winning two of the latter. ''Alegría'' was also ranked on the Billboard World Music Chart for 65 weeks. Francesca continued touring with ''Alegría'' and starred as 'The White Singer' in the 2001 DVD recorded live in Sydney. During this period, she also performed with the troupe on

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

and before

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in England. Although she left Cirque in 2002 to resume her solo career, Francesca returned to sing ''Alegrías title track at the 25th anniversary of the

Montreal Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...

and the 20th anniversary of

in 2004. That concert, directed by

Michel Lemieux Michel Lemieux (born February 13, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a Canadian multimedia artist from Quebec, whose career has incorporated work in theatrical design, installation art, film, video, dance and music."'Technology is a tool' to ar ...

and Victor Pilon, has been released on DVD as Cirque du Soleil's ''Midnight Sun''. Since returning to her solo career, she released her newest album ''Hybride'' in 2005 after two years of production. On the album, Francesca sings in a language of her own creation inspired by the musical tones of different languages. The reasoning behind this was that she "wanted to transport us to a world where the language exists on a universal level without any border of race, country or words."http://www.lestudio1.com/MagazineEnglish3.html

Selected Discography

Filmography

References

External links

Francesca Gagnon's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagnon, Francesca 1957 births French Quebecers Living people Singers from Quebec French-language singers of Canada 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers