Françoise Vanhecke is a versatile, all-round artist. She is a vocalist, pianist, actress, voice instructor, vocal coach as well as a composer under the name Irma Bilbao (she started composing at the age of 13). She has perfected her art among the top international artists and has been awarded a number of varied prizes: “Palmo d’oro” at the Concorso Internazionale da musica da Camera in Finale Ligure (Italy), Radio 3 prize for contemporary music in the Orfeus competition in Antwerp...

She has performed in concerts throughout the world, working closely with composers such as Stockhausen, Buckinx, Chassain, Shmotova, Terzakis, Johnson, Warhol, Mendes...

Additionally, she appears on the show bills of the world’s leading music festivals and theatres. Thanks to her versatile talent Vanhecke is often asked to appear in modern works, from song to opera. Vanhecke is known not only for her rendition of songs by Erik Satie, but also for Pierrot Lunaire by A. Schönberg which she first performed in Szombathely (Bartok Festival) with Peter Eötvös.

Vanhecke has worked with the KNM (Kammerensemble Neue Musik, Berlin), L’Itinéraire, Ensemble Vox Nova, Prometheus Ensemble, Danelkwartet, Warholensemble, La Petite Bande, L’intercontemporain de Paris...

And with directors such as Peter Eötvös, Gustav Leonhardt, Roland Kluttig, Dominique My, Segiswald Kuycken, Etienne Siebens, Dirk Brossé...

She sometimes appears in the less-travelled venues: performances, operettas, café-chantant and even fashion shows. In the theatre and in film she is also found to have contributed as pianist, vocalist, vocal coach, musical director and actress, including in Blauw Vier, Kopergieterij, Het Muziek Lod, KVS, Théâtre National, Victoria, the Théâtre Européen de la Musique Vivante’, Theater Taptoe, Theater Luxemburg...

In 2003 Françoise received a grant from the New York Women Composers which enabled her to give a concert in 2004 in New York with her solo programm “More Than A Voice”. This programm is focused on music of women composers. 2004 was a turning point in her career. Since then, she has been touring in Europe with her solo programm.

We can hear her at the different record labels as Harmonia Mundi, Vox Temporis, Pogos, (New-York)...’The Voice of Silence’ is a life-CD recorded in Moscow in 2002 produced by the Berinsky Club. You can find all the further information and CD critics on her site : www.francoisevanhecke.be