BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – Martha de Francisco has been described by noted Conductor, Sir Neville Marriner as “an invaluable colleague in the production of recordings, both artistically and technically. Her musical sensitivity and perception is largely responsible for the success of her work and will endorse and enhance any professional operation she may promote.” De Francisco will be a featured lecturer during the 2008 Cartagena International Festival of Music January 5-12, 2008. She will discuss how music recordings serve as a bridge of sound between musicians and their audience. Her lecture will take place on Sunday, January 6 at 3:30 p.m. in the Chapel of the Charleston Cartagena Hotel.
Born in Mexico City to Colombian parents, Martha de Francisco attended the German school in Bogotá. She completed her musical studies in Germany and has traveled the world as record producer specializing in classical music. She is currently a professor of Sound Recording at McGill University in Montreal.
A graduate of the renowned Tonmeister program at the Musikhochschule Detmold, in Germany, Martha was one of the pioneers of digital recording in Europe during the 1980’s. For many years she was on the staff of Philips Classics as a producer/engineer/editor where she worked with such artists as Alfred Brendel, Jessye Norman, I Musici de Montreal Chamber Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Sir Nevelle Marriner, among others. Many of her recordings have been recognized with prestigious awards.
Currently she produces independently mainly for major international among them Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BIS and EMI. Her recent multichannel and surround sound recordings are receiving great acclaim from her professional colleagues and the press.
Miss De Francisco is a frequent lecturer on audio and multichannel recording at international professional conferences and at leading universities including in Moscow, Banff, Dusseldorf, Bogotá and New York. She is also a recording consultant to distinguished artists and orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, whose new SACD1 recording she produced.
For more information about the 2008 Cartagena International Festival of Music including, the complete program please visit: www.cartagenamusicfestival.com
Editor’s Note: Digital images of the artists and festival venues are available upon request.
1Super Audio CD (SACD) is a read-only optical audio disc format aimed at providing much higher fidelity digital audio reproduction than the Red Book audio CD. Introduced in 2000, it was developed by Sony and Philips Electronics, the same companies that created the Compact Disc. SACD was in a format war with DVD-Audio, but neither format managed to replace regular audio CDs.
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