Lily Francis is an American violinist and violist based in Austria. As one of the top prizewinners at the 2009 ARD Music Competition (Violin) in Munich, she has performed with several of the leading orchestras in Germany, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Munich Radio Orchestra. She made her Weill Recital Hall debut in New York in May 2008 on the Distinctive Debuts series, and has appeared as concertmaster of the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
A consummate chamber musician, Ms. Francis was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center CMS Two program from 2006-09, which presented her in concerts in Alice Tully Hall and other notable NY venues. Since moving to Austria, Ms. Francis has toured with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, taught at the Bruckner University in Linz, joined the Neue Wiener Konzertsolisten, and grounded a new chamber group, the Tassilo Chamber Collective. In 2017, she joined the faculty of the Mozarteum University Salzburg, as Professor of Violin. Ms. Francis has appeared at festivals worldwide, such as Lockenhaus, Marlboro, and Prussia Cove, and has been a proud chamber partner to Nicolas Altstaedt, Vilde Frang, Ilya Gringolts, Erich Höbarth, Pekka Kuusisto, Thomas Riebl, and Mitsuko Uchida.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute and New England Conservatory, Ms. Francis studied with Joseph Silverstein and Miriam Fried. She plays an 1846 Pierre Silvestre violin and a 2004 Marco Coppiardi viola.