Francesca Remigi
Appears on:Milan/Berlin-based musician, Francesca Remigi is a multifaceted drummer, an inquisitive improviser and a visionary composer. Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021, Top Jazz 2022 (Musica Jazz) and Pathways to Jazz 2024 winner Francesca Remigi is known for her international collaborations in the avant-garde and free improv jazz scene featuring musicians such as Steve Lehman, Danilo Perez, Jen Shyu, Linda May Oh, Val Jeanty, George Garzone, Kris Davis, Camila Nebbia, Marion Hayden, Ellen Rowe, Sharel Cassity, Bruno Chevillon, Alexander Hawkins, Antonello Salis, Gianluigi Trovesi, Tomeka Reid, Angelika Niescier, Nicole Glover, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Carmen Staaf, Yuhan Su, DoYeon Kim, Trevor Dunn, Robert Landfermann, Mario Biondi, Simona Molinari and many others, with appearances at EFG London Jazz Festival 2020, Panama Jazz Festival 2022, DC Jazz Festival 2021, Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2022, L’Off Jazz 2022 (Montréal), Tashkent Jazz Festival 2024, North Sea Jazz Festival 2024, Jarasum Jazz Festival 2024 and Montreaux Jazz Festival 2025.
Francesca has led bands performing in festivals and venues all over the world (So What’s Next? Festival 2021, Bergamo Jazz 2021, Ambria Jazz 2021, Novara Jazz 2022, Sile Jazz 2022, Chile Jazz por la Paz 2022, Pisa Jazz 2022, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues 2022, Bermeo Jazz 2022 (Spain), Bari Jazz 2023, Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2022, L’Off Jazz 2022 a Montréal,…).
Particularly, her project Archipélagos has won several jazz competitions such as Barga Jazz Contest 2021 and All You Have to do is Play 2019, and it was also one of the finalists of the Maastricht Jazz Awards 2020 and of the Gexto Jazz Competition 2022. Archipélagos’ first album Il Labirinto Dei Topi was published in 2021, “one of the most exciting debut albums I’ve heard in recent memory” according to Steve Lehman. Francesca’s second album The Human Web was released March 2022. In Linda May Han Oh’s words, “Francesca is a bold and vibrant musical force.The Human Web’s compositions are edgy, thoughtful, and played with a compelling fervor that insists that you come along form the ride. A ride that I can guarantee is well worth it.” Francesca’s third album WITCHESS comes out for Hora Records in fall 2025.
Besides these 3 releases as a leader, Francesca published five other albums as a co-leader (Confini Labili by Subatin-Calcagno-Remigi, Water Shapes by Subconscious Trio, Empowered Kind by Hinds-Remigi Duo, Palladio a Palla! by GOGODUCKS and Assemblaggi by Stermieri/Fiorucci/Zanasi/Remigi). She also appears in Start From Scratch by Livio Bartolo, Dança del Aire by Angela Varo Moreno, Hear me Speak by Naomi Nakanishi, Elektra by Camilla Battaglia and Orbits by Luca Scardovelli.
In January 2022, the prestigious Italian jazz magazine Musica Jazz awarded Francesca with 2 Top Jazz nominations: she won the first prize together with violinist Anais Drago as “best new talent 2021”, and Archipélagos got the second prize as “best Italian project of the year”. Francesca is also the winner of Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021, a project funded by Italia Jazz and MIDJ associations in order to promote the new Italian jazz generation internationally. Francesca won the SIAE Award 2022, the Best Soloist Award at the Getxo Jazz Competition 2022, and she was a finalist of New Music USA’s Next Jazz Legacy Award 2023 and 2024. Berklee Global Jazz Institute alumna Francesca Remigi was the winner of the first prize at the Keep an Eye International Award 2023 with the Berklee BGJI Ambassadors band, and she was the recipient of Per Chi Crea SIAE grant 2023, Pathways to Jazz grant 2024, Brutal REvolution Award and Marco Birro Award 2025 (Olimpico Jazz Contest). In fall 2024, Francesca received a 3 year scholarship to attend a PhD program in music performance and composition at Frescobaldi Conservatory in Ferrara.
Francesca has participated in many different mentorship programs and artistic residencies, such as UmbriaJazz 2012, Siena Jazz 2018, Banff Jazz Residency 2019 directed by Vijay Yier and Tyshawn Sorey, La Casa del Jazz Artistic Residency 2020, organized by MIDJ association, the “Mutual Mentorship for Musicians” (M3) program, run by vocalists Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa, the Medinea Session 2022 in Nuoro, under the artistic direction of Belgian saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol, the INTL Jazz Platform 2023 and 2024 in Poland, and the Avaloch Farm Music Residency in New Hampshire (September 2023). She’s also a Distinguished Fellow of the Hambidge Center for Arts and Sciences, and a Loghaven Fellow.
In terms of performance highlights, Francesca played with a band led by Kris Davis and John Patitucci for the Jazz Education Network 2021. In March 2022, she subbed for Allison Miller in the Ellen Rowe Quartet for a series of concerts at the JazzArts Charlotte (NC). In May 2022 she toured in Europe with the Danilo Perez Quartet, presenting Perez’s new album Crisálida in Italy (Paradiso Jazz Festival 2022) and in the UK (Hay Festival 2022). In summer 2023 she participated with the band Subconscious Trio in a 7-date tour of Taiwan, thanks to Jazz IT Abroad touring grant by Italia Music Export, with support of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office in Taipei (MAECI). In October 2023 she was called for a tour in England with the Jonny Mansfield Quintet (with Ivo Neame, Will Sach, Emma Rawich and Dominique Ingham). In spring 2024 Francesca toured with the Dee Dee Bridgewater WE EXIST! 4tet in Italy and Uzbekistan, and she joined the new Alexander Hawkins Dialect Quintet for some concerts and an album recording. In July 2024 she joins saxophone player Angelika Niscier and cellist Tomeka Reid at the North Sea Jazz Festival, and collaborates with famous Italian musicians such as Antonello Salis and Gianluigi Trovesi. In 2025 she starts touring with Italian jazz-pop singers Mario Biondi and Simona Molinari, and performs at Siena Jazz together with Kris Davis, Linda May Han Oh and Jen Shyu.
Raised in a musical family, at the age of 5 Francesca decided to follow her parents’ footsteps and began to study guitar and drums, developing a deep interest for rhythms and composition. After studying classical piano for 5 years while attending a private drum academy, Francesca earned a Bachelor’s degree in jazz drumming performance from Conservatorio G.Verdi of Milano in 2017, and was selected for a 1 year Erasmus Program in the Netherlands. In 2020, as soon as she graduated from a Master in jazz performance at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels, under the guidance of the Belgian drummer Stéphane Galland, Francesca was awarded with a full scholarship to attend the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Master Program, directed by Grammy Award winning jazz pianist Danilo Pérez. Berklee Global Jazz Institute and Berklee Jazz & Gender Justice Institute alumna Francesca Remigi had the chance to study with visionary artists such as Linda May Oh, Billy Kilson, Kris Davis, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Terri Lyne Carrington, Shirazette Tinnin, Tamar Diesendruck,…
Francesca is social media manager and one of the founders of the independent label “Habitable Records”, and she’s also worked as production manager assistant at The Jazz Gallery in NYC, and as graduate/managing assistant at Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Francesca is currently active as an educator: in 2024 she taught at Conservatorio Vittadini in Pavia and in 2025 she becomes associate professor at Siena Jazz University.