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Francesca Mountfort Cellist 
view large Photo credits: Jennifer Franich Francesca has recently moved to Melbourne where she is quickly establishing herself as a freelance and solo cellist. Francesca has been a very active member of the Wellington music community and has performed with many other successful local bands including: Age Pryor, Leila Adu, Mr Sterile, Box of Birds, and Naiina. Francesca has recorded a solo album and produces, performs and writes the music for Chair Water, Air, a local performance art ensemble. Francesca won best music in Fringe NZ 2004. Francesca has just released her fantastic debut solo album "Nervous Doll Dancing" available from Slow Boat Records, Cuba St Wellington. Nervous Doll Dancing by Francesca Mountfort Performing at Wunderbar, Lyttleton, Nov 6, 8pm with support from Flip Grater Nervous Doll Dancing...deep electrifying cello, chiming clocks, music boxes, ghostly singing. Moody, sweet, dark,emotional,beautiful. Imagine the dark and mysterious beauty of porcelain dolls, distant memories attached to chiming grandfather clocks, the nostalgic magical delight of opening your treasure box that plays a sweet melody while the ballerina goes round and round and you wonder if she’s getting dizzy yet? Nervous Doll Dancing is a solo act by Francesca Mountfort. Layers of cello sounds that create dense textures with soaring melodies and sound effects, all created from the cello accompanied by clocks, music boxes and voice. Francesca won the 2004 Wellington Fringe award for music, and has created multimedia performances with her music incorporating shadow puppetry, film and dance. Last year Francesca produced her first solo album titled Nervous Doll Dancing, which she released in a joint tour around New Zealand with John White. She is hoping to release her second album early 2006. Francesca is now based in Melbourne. She is currently touring NZ with her carnival gypsy band Carousel as Arts on Tour NZ, and is performing Nervous Doll Dancing in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. This is your only chance to see Nervous Doll Dancing before Francesca heads back to Melbourne. You can buy the album Nervous Doll Dancing at Francesca's performances and from Real Groovy and Slowboat Records in Wellington. Review from The Package, Wellington: Wellington is gaining attention far and wide for the creative infusions that hatch from the local music nest. Taking light to fresh poles is resident alt-cello performer Francesca Mountfort with her debut CD release. This recording is uniquely neo-classical; there is no contradiction here, as this creation is a delight of postmodern paradox. It is a true and tasteful meld of centuries-old bowmanship and well-metered digital aggregations. "Caterpillar" and "white" open the disk with a soaring weavework of emotive mellow-drama. Multiple cello intonations freely roll over each other into pleasing stratas. By the time you get to the third track, "Dreaming", you'll feel entranced and ensconced by some sort of looming seriousness. It's only when the whimsical childlike vocal interlude skips in, like a pixie playing in a sandpit, that you sence something kooky waiting to give you a poke. Clocks and musical dolly boxes chime in, their evocative sounds syncopated into a strange and natural accompaniment. All the while you are will informed of the versatility of the cello itself, with no shortage of technique on offer. "Chairwaterair" seems the most conventional tune, with the inclusion of violin, but that still has enough evocative power to create some sort of craving for a hungarian homestay. A seminal work made with great craft and care. Its artistry is worth your time and money. Sick Borg, The Package. Review from The Broken Face, Sweden New Zealander Francesca Mountfort is a new name to me but her self-released Nervous Doll Dancing includes none of the usual newcomer mistakes so I am guessing she’s been around for a while after all. Mountfort is a cellist with equal interest in classical composition, avant-garde and folk music and this is very much visible all through this disc’s nine tracks. The electrified cello is always the main feature but there is also ample use of bells, music boxes and the occasional vocal addition. Mountfort uses the full range of the cello which results in a sound that sometimes is comforting and lulling, at others emotional and heartfelt and if we turn around the corner words like nervous and claustrophobic are more likely to come to mind. That’s quite an achievement, and along the way she manages to create some of the most beautiful cello playing I’ve heard in some time.
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Copyright 2004 Carousel
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