Adam V. Fontana is passionate about music education, the art of conducting, and the important role music plays in our society. 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 and College-Youth Symphony, and teaches courses in conducting and clarinet within the Department of Music.
Fontana previously served as the Director of Instrumental Music at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, from 2016-2020. While at Bethel College, he conducted the Bethel Wind Ensemble and 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. As a conductor, Fontana works regularly with living composers, and he has premiered and commissioned new works by Narong Prangcharoen, David Stock, Jess Langston Turner, and 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winner Zhou Long. He appeared as a participant in the 2019 Conductors Guild Frederick Fennell Memorial Conducting Masterclass at the Eastman School of Music, and was chosen to be a Conducting Fellow in the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic’s inaugural Reynolds Conducting Institute in December 2018. As a clarinetist, he has performed with the Juilliard Orchestra (under the baton of Marin Alsop), UMKC Wind Symphony, Hartt Wind Ensemble, and the Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra. Fontana was the founder and conductor of the Hudson Valley Chamber Winds and Strings, a professional chamber music ensemble in Washingtonville, NY composed of musicians from the West Point Band, Albany Symphony, Juilliard, and The Hartt School, and led them to a performance at the 2012 College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Division Conference. He has recently appeared as guest conductor with the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra, Nebraska Wind Symphony, Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, and numerous honor bands and orchestras across seven states. Fontana’s research centers around conductor training, and community building through interdisciplinary performances. He has presented his research at three CBDNA National Conventions, most recently presenting on the benefits of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for conductors at the February 2023 National Conference at the University of Georgia. He has also shared his work at the 2022 New York State Band Directors Association Symposium, and at state music education conferences in Connecticut and Kansas. Fontana holds a doctorate degree in conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, along with degrees in music education and conducting from SUNY Potsdam, Columbia University-Teachers College, and The Hartt School. He has studied conducting with Steven Davis, Glen Adsit, Dino Anagnost and Timothy Topolewski, and clarinet with Alan Woy and Tom Scott. He has nine years of public school band, orchestra, choral, and general music teaching experience in New York and Connecticut. |