Testimonials
Kind words
From students and performers to pastors, producers and event organisers, here’s what people say about working with Francine.
“When I won the lead in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, I knew there was only one vocal coach for me. Years earlier I had been lucky enough to be one of Francine’s students and each moment I was in her class I knew I was experiencing something very special. I have had many teachers, and in my mind, there are singing teachers and then there is Francine. The way she passes on knowledge is extraordinary. Under Francine’s guidance I was able to achieve a result I had only dared dream about. I am forever grateful to you lovely Francine. Thank you xoxox”
“I have been singing and performing since I was 3 years old! It has been a very strong passion of mine since a very young age! I first heard about Francine through a friend and I attended one of her sessions of Inside the Alien Head, I was so interested in Francine’s teaching techniques that I decided to get weekly singing lessons! Francine’s outlook on music and performing was an instant inspiration to me. Francine’s drive and enthusiasm is so infectious that you cannot help but want to better yourself! I have worked with a number of teachers and mentors over the past 10 years and no one has inspired me like Francine does! Francine always taught me that the first step to bettering yourself as a person and a performer is to learn how to laugh at yourself for a silly decision rather than beat yourself up about it :)”
Makaylie Foodey
Telstra Road to Tamworth Peoples Choice Award Winner 2010
“We found, that every week, Makaylie would come home from her lesson having learnt something new about herself as a performer. Francine helped to bring Makaylie out of her shell and showed her how to be herself on stage! Makaylie always looked forward to working with Francine and noticeably grew as a person and performer during this time!”
“Francine is a Master in her art! Through ‘personalisation’ she gets her students to connect to their inner emotional life and with that work gets TOP performances out of them. She helps you connect with your instrument, which is your emotions and your voice. She is such an inspiration as a person, performer and teacher. She IS a STAR...... there is no doubt about that!!!!!!!”
“Francine is a performance guru. She has a rare ability to convey her intimate knowledge of stagecraft across to all aspiring performers of all styles and instruments. I have been privileged to attend her workshops and I would highly recommend Francine to anyone involved in performance, be it a front line vocalist, accompanist or even a back-line rhythm section. Francine will give you a rare insight on how to engage an audience and empower your stage craft”
“Francine Bell: Guaranteed no-one will be bored when Francine is on the platform. Her ability to engage the audience and to touch the heart and the head is just fantastic.
Francine was an unknown quantity to us when she first came to our church having been recommended by a friend. I reckon you can gauge how well a person has connected with people by how many come back for the second session. We had people turn up at our night service that I don’t think we have ever seen at a night service before.
Francine has an awesome singing voice. She speaks and sings from the heart and connects easily with people. She is one of those people that remembers names very well, people warm to her quickly and receive wonderful encouragement and edification from her ministry.”
“Francine Bell: 10/10”
“Francine Bell: Would have her back anytime.”
“Francine Bell: Never a dull moment.”
“Hi Francine, I met you today at the Talent Development Project workshop. I was so inspired by your lesson with us, and after listening to your singing, I have enormous respect for you as a performer….”
“Francine Bell came to Newcastle Night Aglow Fellowship and ministered to our women in 2009. Attendance was full on the night as word spread for Francine is well known, respected and loved. She is a woman who carries a strong presence of the Lord and a genuine love for people. In all of the heightened status she has achieved, there is a grounded humility at the base of the confidence she wears; for she knows her authority is God’s and has a true balance of walking in His authority with humility. It is beautiful to be around her. What I witnessed with Francine in our meeting was a woman who is not afraid to be real, and in her realness, disarms people to lay down their own masks, allowing the Holy Spirit to move into the hearts. Her voice of clarity when singing reminds me of a finely tuned instrument, where you can hear the single note of the string, but the string is Francine’s own unique beautiful voice, distinct, beautiful, full of passion as she sings from her heart.
On a much more personal note, I’d like to add that a few years ago I was in a workshop where Francine led a day-long Worship Workshop at Mayfield Baptist Church, Mayfield.She taught about 45 people which was a fruitful and educational meeting that the worship team gleaned much from.
After this encounter, over the next five years, I met her a few times, in unusual places (example: one night of the Pasha Bulker standing along side of her and talking). She is always the same everywhere I have met her, nothing changes with Francine. She is who she appears to be, except that as she grows more into the image of God daily, more beautiful each time we meet. She is a model example to women everywhere. Francine Bell has my heart of confidence that wherever she is, she gives her best from God and for God. Of that one truth, Francine keeps her heart lifted up toward heaven, while ministering to the people on earth, receiving from Him, and giving of Him.
Sincerely,”
“Good Morning Francine,
I would like to thank you sincerely for agreeing to participate in our Carols By The Lake 2009 on Toronto foreshore. I had not met with you prior and was unsure as to what to expect. WOW! The way you engaged with the audience immediately was quite spectacular to watch and that alone is a rarity to witness. Your first song Go Tell It On The Mountain, I have never heard such a rendition and I have goose bumps now thinking about how you interpreted it. Bravo! to you Francine, your own compositions were so appropriate, heart-felt and mesmerising.
It has been a true joy to meet with you, hear you perform and I am hoping you would agree to an engagement at our Carols this year if you are not already booked out.
Warm regards and with sincere thanks for making our community carols shine.”
Mayor’s Column – 1 September 2010
25/8/2010
Two weeks ago, I attended the opening of the Lake Macquarie Women’s Forum 2010 at Toronto. It was an inaugural event, organised by the Quigley Co-operative Women’s Initiative and was opened by the NSW Governor, Professor Marie Bashir. The event sought to empower women in their personal lives and to inform on a wide range of health, and other women’s issues.
More than 400 people from all walks of life attended this free event that aimed to assist local women achieve their career aspirations and creative pursuits through providing inspiration and support. The Women’s Initiative works to create supportive friendships between women of all ages and cultures providing weekly workshops where women share and learn new skills with on site childcare provided.
I had been invited along mainly due to the attendance of the Governor and on entering the event, apart from noting that there weren’t many men, I was struck by the number of people I knew. They were all women who I have come to know over the years through their community work. To see them together at this forum drove home to me just how much work, largely voluntary, is being done by women throughout our community.
The event had a powerful line-up of women speakers including health advocate, Dr Sally ‘Feelgood’ Cockburn, and Shivani Gupta speaking on personal leadership. Another highlight was local resident Francine Bell. Francine originally came from New York and is a very talented entertainer, tutor, and motivational speaker who added to an inspiring opening of the event.
This event was funded by the Department of Community Services, but couldn’t have happened without a huge effort of local organisers. It is always difficult to single out individuals for their efforts with events such as this, but it is appropriate to acknowledge the vision and effort of Coral Allen from the Quigley Co-operative based at Bolton Point. Coral and her helpers did a fantastic job of bringing this important initiative to our community. Hopefully more funding can be found next year to see this great forum held again.
I had been a professional singer for over 25 years when I started to have some vocal issues. They were caused by grief (after the loss of my Father), stress and neglect. I had many years of vocal tuition throughout my teenage years, but from the time I had turned professional, it wasn’t something I had continued. I visited my GP and a Speech Pathologist, and although they were helpful, they didn’t truly understand how I was feeling, nor could they fully answer the questions I had about my singing voice.
And then, I contacted the wonderful and amazing Francine Bell.
Francine taught me the anatomy of the voice. She explained how the vocal folds work and how to approach each note and word, to achieve the best sound. I had never had this explained to me previously, and the way Francine explained it, made perfect sense. Just this one thing has changed the way I sing a song.
Thanks to Francine’s tuition and guidance, my vocal range has expanded and returned to a level I have not achieved for a number of years. My voice has more clarity and easily lasts the duration of my performances. Having my voice back in better fitness means that my stress has also reduced.
I am so grateful to Francine for helping me. She is the best! For anyone who is just starting to sing, Francine will point you in the right direction and teach you everything you need to know to achieve your highest vocal quality.
If you have been singing for a number of years, and need some fine-tuning, like I did, do yourself a favour and contact Francine Bell. You will be truly amazed, relieved and grateful.
“Dear Francine
Thank you so much for the wonderful work you did with the TDP students in the master class last week and for being so generous with your time to stay on for the afternoon session.
The class found the work you did with them truly inspirational and really enjoyed the time they spent with you.
I can never thank you enough for the support you give the TDP. Your expertise, energy and guidance have been of such benefit to our students over the years. You are one of our most treasured consultants.”
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Francine both personally and on a professional level for close on ten years now. As Vocal Director for Australian Idol, she is the only other vocal coach I have ever employed to work with the artists that have come through the process. I trust her implicitly to coach on vocal technique. Also, her ability to nurture confidence and character in singers is such a necessary benefit to them. I would trust her judgment and teaching for anyone who is serious about wanting to sing.”
“Somewhere around 1988, I watched a performance of the lovely musical NINE in Sydney. Several cast members had worked with me re voice exercises. The cast was excellent, but one of them was this elegant Lady, Francine Bell; so beautiful to watch… When she walked into my studio, it was even more beautiful for me to meet this elegant charming, intelligent woman: her eyes and speech made me feel comfortable and warm… From that moment we became friends.
Hearing Francine in concert on theatre stages and clubs, with pianists and jazz bands always delighted me, and made me wonder why she was in Australia, but feeling thankful she was for people here to meet and greet and hear her perform. Francine’s vocal calibre is admirable for all musical types. That is classical, music theatre, jazz, ballads and folk, but perhaps even more wonderful when she enters into the Gospel category. Francine feels with warmth and love for all loving sense for humanity…with spiritual sense, along with the languages understanding. I shall be grateful for as long as I live for our friendship, and being chosen to assist her with voice technical reasoning.”
“Francine Bell is definitely a ‘one of a kind’ teacher. Not only is she an extremely talented singer herself and a Master in teaching, but she is a beautiful person as well!! Fighting the dragon is one of her fabulous teachings to push performers through the barrier of your comfort zone and giving it your all!!! Francine ROCKS!!!!”
“Hi Francine,
I’m not to sure if you remember me but I sang with you in the Gospel ‘Quar’ back in good old 2003 and 2004. We had such a great time and I will always remember the feeling of looking forward to coming to sing with you and Terrance!
I have been working with my choir in my school in Sydney and have hit a bit of a wall! I am looking for inspiration and assistance to get these girls singing like they’ve never sung before! And you are definitely the person to do this!
I was wondering if you are interested in coming to do a vocal workshop with them and me (I need all the help I can get!)… ”
“Francine Bell has been a generous supporter of the activities of Garden Suburb Uniting Church on two occasions. Most recently, Francine supported our Girl’s Night Out outreach in word and song. Her talk about Being the Best You, You Can Be, really struck a chord with the group, and I know that her positive message presenting the excitement, challenges and rewards of a life lived for God, led to much conversation and thought. We have been particularly impressed with Francine’s vivacious nature, enthusiasm and her love for God which always shines through.”
“Francine, I just wanted to tell you how much I love your program on Rhema on Sunday mornings. I was a fan of Mahalia Jackson when I was a teenager & my friends couldn’t understand why!!! Also love those guys from Alabama but can never remember their name. I love the rich tapestry you present. God bless you & your amazing team. xx”
Work with Francine