Yannis François

Born in Guadeloupe, Yannis François began is career as a dancer with Lena Blou. He entered the École-Atelier Rudra Béjart in Lausanne and later became a member of the Béjart Ballet (Compagnie M). During the singing lessons that were a part of François’ dance school studies, Maurice Béjart was so impressed by his voice that he encouraged François to fully explore a singing career parallel to his ballet studies. François studied with Gary Magby and graduated with his master’s degree in classical singing from the Conservatoire de Lausanne.

On the opera stage, François has sung the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Curio in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Peter Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sasha in Shostakovich’s Moscow, Cheryomushki, Melisso in Handel’s Alcina, Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Plutone in L’Orfeo, the title role in Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, and the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Staatsoper Berlin (Sasha Walz, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin).

In concert, he sang the bass solo part in oratorios Bach’s Mass in B minor (Vaclav Luks, Collegium 1704) and St. John Passion (Ton Koopman), Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, and this Mozart’s Requiem (Philharmonie de Paris). He has also appeared as a soloist with conductors including Ottavio Dantone, Gabriel Garrido, Christina Pluhar, Paul Agnew, Sébastien Daucé, and Lars Ulrich Mortensen.

Given his passion for early music, François is regularly hired to research and create programs for artists including Jakub Józef Orliński, Philippe Jaroussky, Julie Fuchs, Michael Spyres, Jeanine de Bique, Bruno de Sà, and Lea Desandre.

Yannis François is the founder of Editions Charybde & Scylla.