Biography

Francesca Bellenis was born in Rome to a Greek mother and an Italian father with artistic origins. This charming pairing played a decisive role in her later development as she inherited her love for music from her father. Long before learning the guitar, Francesca had already taken her first steps in singing at the age of eleven.

In her early teens she took up figure skating at a competitive level, winning two silver medals in her category. Her first appearance on stage was at the age of eight at the "Quirino" Theater in Rome. At eleven she won first prize in a state competition in classical ballet, and in the years that followed she continued with modern dance and jazz. It is worth noting that she made her first two television appearances as a dancer at the age of sixteen and seventeen respectively.

She spent her student years in Rome and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. After finishing her studies, Francesca came to Greece where she signed a contract with the recording company MINOS, on behalf of which she recorded her first album. During that period she collaborated with prominent artists and appeared in prominent music scenes.

Her passion for music led her to the United States, where she met Riccardo Cocciante. Together they made the big hit entitled "I'd fly", a track that was recorded in Lugano, Switzerland at the studio "Mina" and then distributed to the rest of Europe. With Riccardo they gave many concerts in Canada, where they appeared in large theaters and stadiums in front of thousands of spectators. She then returned to the United States where she worked in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Detroit and Las Vegas, while continuing her studies at the renowned Strasberg School in New York and Los Angeles.

Francesca is fluent in five languages (Italian, Greek, English, Spanish and French) and also sings in Portuguese. This multi-layered expression of her character has made her capable of writing music and lyrics in many languages. She started composing while still living in the United States.

In 2000 she won the Best Composer-Best Lyricist-Best Performer Award in Washington with the song “Seeking for my heart”. From then on, her development was rapid. She sang with gospel music choirs as part of their collaboration with Michael Jackson, and collaborated with great artists, including:

• Andrè Crouch and Quincy Jones for the arrangement of the piece “Who may abide” by George Frederic Handel (17th century)
• Morris White for the track "Someone I never had"
• Beppe Cantarelli for "Give me some loving"
• Riccardo Cocciante for the tracks "Come together" and "I'd fly"
• Claudio Simonetti for the track "Open your eyes and dream".

She has also collaborated with the band Earth Wind and Fire, as well as Larry Ferguson, Loris Holland, Lee Curreri, Ike Turner and many others.

Reaching the range of four octaves, Francesca's voice transforms the great tradition she carries in a dynamic and at the same time emotional way. If we consider that four octaves is the maximum range of a singer's voice, Francesca starts as a baritone and ends as a treble, which makes her unique according to renowned voice teacher Seth Riggs.

But apart from singing, Francesca also worked on television, as acting was an early part of her life. She appeared in supporting roles in two daily series in the United States, and more specifically in "Days of our life" directed by Herb Stein and in "All of my children" directed by Jill Ackles.

In the theater she embodied the role of May in the production of "Fool for Love" and the role of Grazia in the play "Death takes a holiday". She has also lent her voice to popular films such as “Midnight Summer Dream”, “Les Misérables”, “The Soprano”, “What Women Want”, “Mickey Blue Eyes” and “Bedazzled” among others.

As soon as someone steps into her home, they discover another great passion of hers, painting. Her paintings have been sold in New York, Miami and Chicago. Her favorite subject is cityscapes.

In the midst of all this, however, Francesca has a dream: the establishment of an organization to research treatments against cancer as well as an association to protect needy mothers who will thus avoid giving their children up for adoption.