Marie François started playing the piano at the age of five. She obtained her bachelor's degree at the Maastricht Academy of Music, where she studied with Joop Celis. She completed her master studies in Leuven with Alan Weiss and obtained her postgraduate degree with Polina Leschenko in Antwerp. Following that, François enriched herself with Eliso Virsaladze at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.
Marie François has been heard in Belgium in various venues and cultural centres, as well as performing concerts in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Greece, Ukraine, Romania, United Kingdom and the United States. Highlights of her concert career include performances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp, the Concertgebouw in Bruges, and at the Athenaeum in Bucharest, the International Piano Festival in Miami, the Chamber Music Festival in Schiermonnikoog and the Aurora Festival in Sweden. In late 2023, she played as a soloist with Prima La Musica conducted by Dirk Brossé at Muziekcentrum De Bijloke.
In April 2019, François released her debut album Eclectic / Being me from the Dutch label Challenge Records International. That same month, this CD was in Apple Music's top ten classical music recordings worldwide. She shared that top ten with artists such as Renaud Capuçon and Boris Giltburg. She then released new music under the title Memories of Tomorrow, which was recorded at the Bruges Concert Hall.
Who doesn't love Chopin's Nocturnes is a brand new programme born out of François’ long-standing passion for the Polish composer's music. In 2023, she spent a month in Warsaw, studying a new Nocturne every day. She also produced a daily podcast here about her learning process. The integral Nocturnes will be recorded in DE SINGEL's Blue Hall during the summer of 2024.
