National Arts Centre Orchestra
Charles Pope Jr, ConcertoNet.com, 20th November 2014 "Opening and closing with stunning presentations of Britten and Hindemith, this week’s subscription concert by the National Arts Centre Orchestra was arguably the…
Louis Lortie and the NAC Orchestra
Natasha Gauthier, Ottawa Citizen, 19th November 2014 "Francis conducted the NAC Orchestra just last season, and on Wednesday he returned with an eclectic program of themes and variations. Benjamin Britten…
Mainly Mozart Orchestra Focuses on the Man Himself
James Chute, U-T San Diego, 26th October 2014 In Michael Francis’ first season as Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra’s music director, his course is clear. For the just-announced 2015 season, he’s…
New Florida Orchestra conductor wows with Elgar
Stephanie Hayes, Tampa Bay Times, 25th October 2014 "The concert began with an odd nugget of music in Ives' Central Park In the Dark, an experimental piece from 1906 that…
Local Bay News TV Interview – The Florida Orchestra
Bay News 9, 23rd October 2014 Local Bay News team interviews Michael Francis regarding his new role as the Music Director for The Florida Orchestra. Original footage available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFEOEzMTM50
Florida Orchestra’s Michael Francis talks making music and a home
Stephanie Hayes, Tampa Bay Times, 22nd October 2014 Michael Francis was relieved. His books had just arrived from overseas. The British conductor was starting to plot a life here as…
Feast your Ears
Paul Driver, Sunday Times, 16th February 2014 "...[Michael Francis’] easily authoritative readings of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto…and New World Symphony provided a frame of familiarity for seldom-heard works by the somewhat neglected Polish…
Panufnik at the Barbican
Neil Fisher, The Times, 7th February 2014 ★★★★ "...Hearing two of his most skilfully constructed works, vividly performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Francis, afresh…
Panufnik centenary celebrations at the Barbican
Penny Homer, Bachtrack, 7th February 2014 ★★★ “...The pairing of Dvořák and Panufnik is perhaps explained by their nationalism, although both composers framed it in different ways. Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony…
LSO/Francis Review: Barbican, London
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 6th February 2014 ★★★★ “Sinfonia Sacra, with its ricocheting percussion, assertive brass and ritual string chants, seethed with tension... Among the most remarkable and original of…