Adam V. Fontana is passionate about music education, the art of conducting, and the important role music plays in community building. A native of the Hudson Valley, he returned home to join the faculty at SUNY New Paltz in Fall 2020 as an assistant professor of music, where he conducts the Symphonic Band, serves as interim director of the College-Youth Symphony, and teaches courses in music and music education.

Prior to coming to SUNY New Paltz, Fontana served as the Director of Instrumental Music at Bethel College from 2016-2020. While at Bethel College, he conducted the Bethel College Wind Ensemble and Bethel College Philharmonia Orchestra, and taught courses in music education, conducting, and the music of The Beatles. Under his direction, both the Bethel Wind Ensemble and Philharmonia Orchestra were selected to perform at the 2018 Kansas Music Educators Association state conference.

Fontana was selected to be a participant in the 2019 Conductors Guild Frederick Fennell Memorial Conducting Masterclass at the Eastman School of Music. He was also chosen to be a Conducting Fellow in the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic’s inaugural Reynolds Conducting Institute in December 2018. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra, the Cortlandt Chamber Orchestra, and numerous honor bands across five states. He was the founder and conductor of the Hudson Valley Chamber Winds, a professional chamber music ensemble in Washingtonville, NY, which collaborated with local music students and community organizations, and was selected to perform at the 2012 College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Division Conference.

Fontana presented his research on the inclusion of strings in the collegiate wind ensemble experience at the 2019 CBDNA National Conference at Arizona State University and the 2018 CBDNA Southwest Division Conference at the University of Houston. In March 2015, he presented his research on Stanisław Skrowaczewski’s Music for Winds at the CBDNA National Conference in Nashville. He has also presented clinics at state music educators conferences in Kansas and Connecticut. He holds degrees in music education and conducting from SUNY Potsdam, Columbia University-Teachers College, The Hartt School, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music & Dance, and has studied conducting with Steven Davis, Glen Adsit, Dino Anagnost and Timothy Topolewski.