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The American soprano and voice teacher, Francisca Vanherle Maxwell, was born in Argentina but grew up in Belgium. She studied at the Royal Conservatorium in Brussels, , department of the Erasmus Hogeschool, where she obtained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Arts and a diploma in Vocal Pedagogy. She first worked as a free-lance member of the Brussels Cathedral Choir and the VRT National Radio Choir (Vlaams Radio Koor). She also participated on a regular basis in the vocal ensembles of La Petite Bande (Director: Sigiswald Kuijken, Huelgas, Anima Eterna, Il Fondamento (Director: Paul Dombrecht) and Currende. In 1997, she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship by the Commission or Educational Exchange between the USA and Belgium and Luxembourg. With this scholarship, she continued her education at the University of Texas at Austin where she studied voice and opera. She graduated as a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance in 2002.
Francisca Vanherle Maxwell worked as a free-lance singer in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany. She has been staged in leading roles of many operas and operettas, among which L’Incorronazione di Poppea, Dido and Aeneas, George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo, G.F. Handel's Alcina, W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Benjamin Britten's Eine Nacht in Venedig and Paganini. She equally portrays herself in oratorio, recitals and chamber music. As a member of the Atlanta-based early music group Harmonie Universelle, she performs regularly in the Southwestern USA. She is also a frequent soloist with the Belgian ensemble PhiloMelante. She has been featured several times on public radio in the program “The Atlanta Music Scene”. She recently performed with the Georgia Institute of Technology Orchestra and Choir in Felix Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, in J.S. Bach’s St John’s Passion (BWV 245) and in the Requiem by Jerry Ulrich. Her concert life has taken her all over Europe, Russia and the USA.
Francisca Vanherle Maxwell immigrated to Atlanta in 2009 and held a position as artist affiliate at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. She has many years of teaching experiences on voice and has helped many young and adult students on winning positions in Voice competitions, All-State chorus, local chorus, musical theatre and church solo auditions. In December 2016, she joined the faculty team of the William Pu Music Academy in Alpharetta, Georgia as a voice teacher. In Fall 2019, she joined the faculty at Clayton State University in Atlanta, Georgia. She also maintains a thriving private studio. |
