MARTHA DE FRANCISCO is an Associate Professor of Sound Recording at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, an internationally recognized record producer, a researcher, an educator and a mentor of students. She has established a prominent international career as a leading record producer/engineer for classical music, and she has been invited to produce recordings with some of the world's most significant performers and recording stars, at renowned music institutions and venues around the world and for major record labels. As a producer, initially for Philips Classics in Europe, de Francisco developed longstanding working relationships with distinguished musicians, soloists, singers and symphony orchestras in Europe and the Americas. Her discography is extensive, and her recordings have received numerous major awards and distinctions. Originally from Colombia and a graduate from the renowned Tonmeister program at the Musikhochschule Detmold, Germany, de Francisco was one of the pioneers of digital recording and editing in Europe during the 1980s. As a researcher she has led innovative projects on music performance in virtual acoustics, critical listening and auditory analysis, and interdisciplinary studies in timbre and musical blending. Deeply committed to education, in addition to her teaching at McGill University she is a sought-after guest lecturer at leading schools for higher education in audio in Europe, North and South America. She has been an elected AES Governor.
In 2019, Martha de Francisco was presented with the AES Fellowship Award for conspicuous commitment to audio education and mentorship and support of the Audio Engineering Society.
She has recorded for the major record labels and in the most prominent music venues in the world including the Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Moscow Conservatoire, Bayreuth Festspielhaus, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Her recordings have received numerous major awards in Europe including Gramophone, Orphée d'Or de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique, and German Record Critics awards, and in North America (Grammy and Juno awards and nominations).
In 2015 she was awarded the Woman of Distinction Award, Category Arts and Culture of the Y Foundation in Montreal. The laudation was presented by Kent Nagano.
"Diplom-Tonmeister" degree at the Musikhochschule Detmold, Germany.
2003-present" Associate Professor, McGill University, Montreal Quebec, Canada.
1986 - 1999 Producer/Tonmeister at Philips Classics Productions/Philips Music Group, Baarn and Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1981 - 1985 Tonmeister at Soundstream Gmbh, Gütersloh, Germany
1980 - 1981 Sound designer at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Germany
Martha de Francisco has been an AES member since her early 20s. She has been a frequent lecturer at AES conferences and a regular judge at AES international student recording competitions for the last 15 years. Her personal commitment to sharing her expertise is demonstrated also in her frequent lectures, workshops and master classes in developing countries, at universities, libraries and in the context of AES activities in Latin America.
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