Francesca Gagnon

Francesca Gagnon (born August 6, 1957) is a Canadian singer and theatre actress featured in Cirque du Soleil'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, Quebec, Francesca Gagnon began studying piano and dance at 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. 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 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 Alegría'''s soundtrack, which went on to become Cirque du Soleil's best-selling album. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and several Félix Awards in 1995, winning two of the latter. Alegría was also ranked on the Billboard World Music Chart for 65 weeks. During this period, she also performed with the troupe on The Tonight Show and before Prince Charles at the Royal Albert Hall in England. Although she left Cirque in 2002 That concert, directed by Michel Lemieux 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 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."

Selected discography Year Title Notes 2010 Meridiano work with Inti-Illimani 2005 Hybride – 2004 Le Best of Cirque du Soleil compilation album 1999 Au delà des couleurs – 1994 Alegría Cirque du Soleil 1988 Francesca – 1985 Magie –

Filmography Year Title Role 2004 Cirque du Soleil presents Midnight Sun The White Singer 2001 Cirque du Soleil presents Alegría The White Singer