The Point Welcomes:

Francesca Blanchard with Strings

A Tour de Point Show

Saturday, April 9, 2022  Doors: 7 PM / Show: 8 PM

Higher Ground | South Burlington, VT

– Tickets and Event Info –

Soon after COVID halted all public events in March of 2020, Francesca Blanchard released her record, “Make It Better”. The Burlington-based singer-songwriter/producer had been leading up to this release since trickling singles as early as 2017. Her sophomore record, co-produced and recorded with fellow Vermonter Christopher Hawthorn, blends soaring pop arrangements with complex emotional subtleties, and marked the artist’s clear transition into the Pop sphere (a rather drastic pivot from her debut LP “Deux Visions,” a bilingual folk record that highlighted the singer’s native French background). Blanchard and her band were set to tour for most of 2020 when the world went into lockdown. With no way of performing live and forming a growing need to connect during quarantine, a collaborative project with Burlington peers Matt LaRocca, Christopher Hawthorn and Kyle Saulnier was born. A classical rearrangement of her album’s namesake “Make It Better” opened doors for community members & fans to participate in a virtual, visual reimagining of the song. This was the inspiration behind a complete classical rearrangement of much of Francesca’s catalog, leading to a rendition of her record with a chamber orchestra for the UVM Lane Series, and a featured guest appearance with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Approaching the record’s 2 year anniversary, this performance will entail rearrangements largely headed by Matt LaRocca, creative chair of the VSO, and feature quartet Brooke Quiggins, John Dunlop, Matt LaRocca and Ben Lively, with Christopher Hawthorn on keys.