Francesca Ancarola

From a tender age, Chilean singer/songwriter Francesca Ancarola began creating original material, first presenting it publicly in 1984 at a regional contest sponsored by a music publication, where her performance of “Aire a Libertad” earned the Best Performer prize. She took up formal music studies two years afterward and promptly assembled the jazz-fusion ensemble El Carro. In 1988 the emerging artist joined theatre company Teatro Q for an extended European tour. The next year she produced her initial chamber composition, Biorritmica. Seeking further refinement, Ancarola enrolled in lyrical-singing instruction at the Chilean Catholic University in 1993. A Fulbright scholarship brought her to the United States in 1997, the same year she captured her debut album, Que El Canto Tiene Sentido, on tape. Following her graduation from New York’s Manhattan School of Music, the follow-up release Pasaje de Ida y Vuelta appeared.