Francis Wacziarg, Founder

After completing his MBA from France, late Francis Wacziarg came to India in 1970.

Initially, he was the commercial attaché at the French consulate in Bombay.

He then became a banker and a successful businessman, as well as the co-founder of the Neemrana hotels. Francis Wacziarg was a founding member of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural heritage) and a trustee on IFA (India Foundation for the Arts). He was actively involved in promoting the arts and culture with an emphasis to building bridges between different people and varying cultures.

Francis Wacziarg, as the founder of The Neemrana Music Foundation, was working to put India on the world map of Western classical music. The Foundation has, over the last fifteen years, trained students through a number of music workshops. After producing the first opera ever staged in Delhi, the Fakir of Benares, directed by Muzaffar Ali, the Foundation has produced numerous concerts and nine major opera productions, involving an increasing number of Indian singers and musicians, as well as coaches from all over Europe.

Through the means of this foundation, Francis Wacziarg took further his commitment to preserving heritage and promoting cultural exchanges between the East and the West through the universal power of music.