Paulina Francisco is a versatile singer and interpreter of early music. She was recently named one of eight winners of 11th edition of Les Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants, and looks forward to touring Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with the ensemble during the 2023-2024 season. In the summer of 2022, Paulina was a finalist in the Aria Borealis Bodø Competition in Bodø, Norway and presented a lecture recital at the international MedRen Conference in Uppsala, Sweden. She has performed with early music ensembles throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Bach Akademie Charlotte, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, TENET Vocal Artists, La Chapelle de Québec, and the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. In 2021, Paulina was a finalist in the Handel Aria Competition, and an ARTEK Madrigal Madness Fellow. Now based in Montreal, Paulina is a staff singer at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul.
Paulina is passionate about building stronger connections between research and performance. She has presented interdisciplinary research on the 17th-century trillo at the Spheres of Singing, International MedRen, IU Historical Performance Conferences, and has performed new research presentations for Robert Ketterer (University of Iowa), Donald Burrows (The Open University), and Ayana Smith (Indiana University). Paulina’s research interests include 17th century monody and chamber music, early voice training, and the education and music making of early modern women. Her Master’s thesis “The Virtuosi of Ferrara: The Concerto delle Donne 1580-1601,” including a modern edition of Luzzasco Luzzaschi’s Madrigali (1601), and her recently completed DM dissertation, “The 17th Century Trillo: Historical Practice for the 21st Century Singer,” are available on ProQuest.
Paulina holds advanced degrees in voice and historical performance from Indiana University, the University of Southern California, and Carroll University. She is currently based in Montréal, QC and Indianapolis, IN.