Cassie Watson Francillon explores folk, jazz, classical, modern &
experimental music on the harp, as a visionary harpist in New Orleans, Louisiana. Active since 2007, in a self-initiated journey of harp discovery and performance, she has studied privately under harpists Gabriella Pinto, Brandee Younger, Mia Theodoratus and Patrice Fisher. Cassie composes, teaches, and has served on the board of the New Orleans Chapter of the American Harp Society. She was the Assistant Producer of the annual New Orleans Jazz and Pop Harp Weekend for 2018-2019 and is a producer of the Sirens in the Twilight Music Series series. She was the principal harpist in 2019 new age opera: The Coronation, debuted at the New Orleans Airlift Music Box Village. Her solo album Luna Nuda was released in 2019. In 2020, Cassie released the acoustic solo album this appears to disappear, which earned her a fellowship with indie-label Joyful Noise Records. She played in the futuristic trio Shakespeare & The Blues and co-produced their 2021 release e.g.: Rhapsodic, recorded at Mark Bingham’s Nina Hwy Studio in Henderson, Louisiana. 

A multifaceted performer, she can be found in traditional and innovative settings, private engagements and public productions, which include locations of Studio BE, Ace Hotel Three Keys, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Cathedral at Peter and Paul, New Orleans African American Museum and the Marigny Opera House where she directed, produced and performed the sold-out production the Eternal Harp of Björk in 2019.

Cassie has been sought-after for her unique session work and live productions alongside John Cameron Mitchell,  Helen Gillet, Tank and the Bangas, Norah Jones, Julie Odell, Luke Stewart, People Museum, & Charm Taylor to name a few. She was selected by Prospect Arts Group to conceptualize and perform a diasporic piece with Guardians of the Flame Black Masking Indians, opening for Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah Christian Scott at the P.5 Gala of 2022. Cassie was selected by Grammy and Tony Award-winning NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater to be a fellow of the Woodshed Network for Women in Jazz.

For 2022-2023, she was commissioned by Hotel Saint Vincent to
activate her concept “Consortium” - a collaboration highlighting the power of black communication and musical architecture. The iterations have featured Steve Lands, Jason Marsalis, Selene Saint-Aime, Sulyiman Stokes, Mykia Jovan, Xavier Molina and Sasha Masakowski.

With inimitable grit, tone, awareness and groove, Cassie crafts a narrative that connects past and future, existing and broken ancestral ties. Her sound and journey truly reflect her Haitian and Black American roots, crafting a precious and modern legacy by weaving weighted threads in mid air.