Gracie Francis is a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow in Collaborative Piano at The Juilliard School in New York, studying with the support of the Kia Ora Foundation and Kiwi Music Scholarships. During her studies, she has also served the Juilliard community as a Community Service Fellow, Student Congress representative, Diversity Advocate, History Department teaching assistant, Vocal Arts staff pianist, and violin studio pianist for Catherine Cho and Areta Zhulla (Juilliard String Quartet). Gracie also became a Samling Artist in 2024 and attended the Samling Institute for Young Artists in Scotland.

Gracie’s notable performances since moving to the US include the Naumburg Competition, Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio with Renée Fleming, Young Concert Artists recitals, and the Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital. She has spent her summers exploring more of the US and Europe, as a staff pianist for Spoleto Festival USA in South Carolina, a coach at Berlin Opera Academy, a Vocal Piano Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, and a resident artist for the Voice Academy in Aix-en-Provence, France.

At home in New Zealand, Gracie worked as Assistant Director of GALS (Gay and Lesbian Singers) and the Auckland Youth Choir, and as a mentor and music educator in high schools for piano, chamber music, and harpsichord. Gracie received her Bachelor of Music (Honors) in solo piano in 2014 under Rae de Lisle at the University of Auckland, and her Master’s in Vocal Collaborative Piano from Juilliard in 2021 as a Fulbright Scholar and Kovner Fellow.