![](/sites/default/files/d7/bcm/faculty/images/503.png?fv=4qYf4WQE)
Francesca Tanksley
Position
Professor
Affiliated Departments
Telephone
617-747-3103
For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations
Career Highlights
- Leader of the Francesca Tanksley Trio
- Steady pianist with the Billy Harper Quintet, the Erica Lindsay Quartet, Howard Johnson’s Hojo5, and the Jeff "Siege" Siegel Quartet; past pianist with legendary trombonist/composer Melba Liston
- Past pianist, with commissions for compositions and arrangements, for vocalist Laurel Massé (founding member of Manhattan Transfer)
- Performances with Nick Brignola, Jay Clayton, Charles Davis, Slide Hampton, Clifford Jordan, Sheila Jordan, Melba Liston, David Newman, Cecil Payne, Diane Reeves, and others
- Recordings with the Billy Harper Quintet, the Blue Jade Trio, the Erica Lindsay Quintet, the Francesca Tanksley Trio, the Jeff "Siege" Siegel Quartet, and Marian McPartland
- Concerts and tours throughout Europe, the Near East, Scandinavia, South America, East and Southeast Asia, and the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Kool/JVC Jazz Festivals, U.S. State Department tours, North Sea Jazz Festival, and others
- Featured guest on Marian McPartland’s NPR program Piano Jazz, and the documentary Women in Jazz by Burrill Crohn, and noted in American Women in Jazz by Sally Plaxin and, Madam Jazz by Leslie Gourse
- Private lessons with Sir Roland Hanna, Franz Liszt, Harry Jensen, and Jimmy Heath
Awards
- Recipient of the ASCAP Louis Armstrong Composers’ Scholarship Award
- Recipient of the Eubie Blake Foundation Award
Education
-
School NameQueens CollegeState or ProvinceNew YorkDegreeMaster of Arts (M.A.)Field of StudyJazz PerformanceDate Degree Received
-
School NameExcelsior CollegeState or ProvinceNew YorkDegreeBachelor of Arts (B.A.)Field of StudyMusicDate Degree Received
-
School NameUniversity of Maryland, Munich campusDegreeAssociate of Arts (A.A.)Date Degree Received
In Their Own Words