Brooklyn, New York-born and raised, Francine Bell started singing at the age of 5. Significantly influenced by years of singing in church, she later joined the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art (part of New York’s School of Performing Arts, inspiration for the film, stage production, and television series Fame) where she studied voice. To sharpen her skills, she joined the Actors’ Music Workshop in New York. With $52 dollars and a one-way airline ticket in hand, Francine left New York, setting out to discover a new life, language and culture. Her destination: Paris, France.
Within a month of her arrival, she was hired as a resident singer at Le Chevalier du Temple. To enrich her performance, Francine studied French at L’Universitè de la Sorbonne in Paris. During the opening season of Paris exclusive Champagne Club, Francine was spotted by Jacques Martin (France’s equivalent to Ray Martin) and was invited to appear on Thè Dansant, a leading weekly television show viewed throughout France and all the Francophone countries. Francine also starred for six weeks in Grand Hotel at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club. Francine has performed at many venues around the world from The Sydney Opera House to L’Olympia in Paris. She was guest soloist on the Beethoven Choir’s European tour. Concerts were performed at St. Peter’s Church, Salzburg, Austria, St. Nicholas Church, Prague, Matthias Church and Esztergom Cathedral in Hungary.
Since her arrival in Australia, Francine has starred in theatre, films, television, commercials, corporate videos and gala functions, music clips and voice-overs for Australia and the overseas market. She co-starred in the stage musical Nine alongside Nancye Hayes, John Diedrich and Peta Toppano. Her film work includes roles in Superman Returns, Matrix Revolutions and a co-starring role in The Wilde Girls, opposite Olivia Newton-John. She was a guest soloist on Midday with Ray Martin for three years and on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton for six. Francine played the role of Kebo Akuna in the Logie-winning television series All Saints and was the featured soloist for The World of Accor (Accor Hotels) in Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Francine was invited to perform for the 80th Birthday celebrations of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Parliament House in Sydney and was the featured soloist for the official opening of Lou’s Place (Mission Australia) with Prime Minister John Howard. Francine has made several appearances on Turn ’Round Australia and Rise & Shine (Wesley Mission, Nine Network).
Francine was invited by the United States Consul General, the Honorable Judith R. Fergin, to perform the Australian and American national anthems for her official Fourth of July Celebration in Sydney in 2009 and at her family’s Thanksgiving Day celebration in November, 2008.
Francine was guest soloist for The Australian National Prayer Breakfast at The Great Hall at Parliament House, Canberra, in 2005. She was also a featured artist for the World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney in 2008: a featured soloist on two Stations of the Cross at Darling Harbour and in the Sacred Papal Mass at Randwick Racecourse. She performed in and shared co-hosting honors for The Australian Gospel Music Awards at Homebush Stadium with noted rock historian and journalist, Glenn A. Baker.
Francine performed at the National Gospel Happening with Kamahl in Canberra in 2003 as well as The National Gospel Happening Gospel Music Awards held at The National Gallery. There she received five nominations and won 2 awards for her original compositions. That same year, Francine was awarded The Golden Gospel Award for her contribution to gospel music in Australia, presented by the inaugural winner of the award, Jimmy Little.
Francine has hosted and appeared in many Carols by Candlelight productions around Australia, notably seven consecutive years in An Australian Christmas at Darling Harbor. She also performed in The Premier’s Christmas Concert with Tommy Tycho and The Sydney International Orchestra at The Sydney Entertainment Centre with Anthony Warlow. She was co-producer, casting director, host and special guest artist for Carols by Candlelight at the Sydney Adventist Hospital for two years running. Christmas 2009 saw Francine hosting Carols by Candlelight performances for the combined churches in Australia, performing with internationally acclaimed guitarist Bruce Mathiske and Gospel great, Aliki.
Her Gospel performance at The Newcastle Jazz Festival with the late great Tom Baker, was hailed as “...an artistic triumph” by the organizers.
In 1996, Francine began the Francine Bell Performance Workshop. This workshop was designed to improve performance skills and to build confidence in Australia’s up and coming ‘stars’. Since starting the workshops, Francine has taught stagecraft and performance skills to numerous singers and actors in the Hunter region, Sydney and overseas. Her former students include singer Paulini and Tim Johnston, who finished the competition in the top nine of Network Ten’s Australian Idol. Francine has acted as a consultant for Talent Development Project, funded by the NSW Department of Education and the NSW Ministry for the Arts. Francine was an adjudicator for The McDonald’s Performing Arts Challenge (City of Sydney Cultural Council), The Australian School of Vocal Performance, The Hunter School of Performing Arts, Macquarie College and Queenwood School for Girls. Francine has also been featured as a workshop presenter in Newcastle Music Week for TAFE (Hunter Institute).
In December, 1996, The University of Newcastle School of Music and Drama: The Conservatorium honored Francine by inviting her to join their teaching staff. Francine taught contemporary singing and lectured first- year musicians in contemporary performance and presentation for ten years and was the director of the Newcastle Conservatorium Gospel ‘Quar’ (Choir) for 4 years. She was the first contemporary singing teacher in the university’s history.
Inside the Alien Head: Releasing the Incredible Singer in You, was a series of workshops conceived, developed and conducted by Francine for the inaugural Voice Festival held at The Conservatorium in October, 2006. Highly successful, these workshops are the basis of an upcoming book on the subjects presented. Francine also toured South Korea with The Newcastle Conservatorium Chamber Choir, recent winners of the 7 Network’s Battle of the Choirs, under the direction of Dr. Philip Matthias. She taught master classes in Gospel music, contemporary performance and presentation at Kimpo College, Seoul Theological University and Kwangshin University which twice offered Francine a guest professorship. Francine recently released her first book Lights! Camera! Action!
Francine is currently featured in a weekly Christian news magazine produced by Adventist Media Network for the HOPE Channel, entitled InFocus News. Her segment, My Word, a weekly editorial on subjects sourced and presented by Francine, continues to enjoy global popularity. InFocus is screened four times a week on Hope to several countries worldwide.
A former international fashion model, Francine has acted in the capacity of presenter for numerous functions, including fashion parades with the ex- Miss Australia/Miss World, Belinda Green. She was also the fashion editor on the NBN show This Morning’ with host Nat Jeffreys and was an in-flight news presenter for Qantas Airlines on all flights to the United States and Canada.
Since February, 2009, Francine has had her own radio program, Heart to Heart on radio station Rhema FM 99.7 in Newcastle, Australia. Heard every Sunday around the Hunter Valley and abroad - thanks to live-streaming - Francine co-produces the show and is responsible for all aspects of its programming.
To date, her recordings include Together for Christmas, Jesus Told Me I Can Fly and The Highway as well as a self-titled jazz album recorded and released in Paris as a result of her popularity on the television show, Thè Dansant. Francine played the role of Elizabeth on the CD, Bible Oz-The Gospel Story’ which also features Tommy Emmanuel, Jimmy Little, and Grammy-Award-winning singer/songwriter Darlene Zschech from Hillsong Australia.
Francine interests are varied and many: she loves people - especially her family; her cats; reading; writing and cooking. Charity work plays a big part in Francine’s life. Her performances have helped to raise funds for numerous charity organizations around Australia which include The Autistic Society, The Salvation Army and Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Streets. She is involved in her church and community and is the co-founder of Heartext by Francine Bell, a cottage business designing inspirational gifts based on her own art works, photography and writings.
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