Ann Fontanella, Violin

Ann Fontanella began the study of violin at the age of 6. Shortly after her 10th birthday, she debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of David Zinman and began private studies with the renowned artist, Erick Friedman. At the age of 14, Ann was one of the youngest artists accepted to the MM/Certificate program at Yale University. Currently, she is an artist with Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation program.

In addition to her recognition as a virtuoso performer, Ann is also known as a commissioned composer. In 2001 and 2002, she was an award recipient in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Competition. Ann was also featured in a Symphony Magazine article about young composers ("Born to Compose", May/June 2003). Her style has been described as early Romantic by Jung Ho Pak, conductor of the New Haven Symphony, and appeals to a wide range of audiences.

Ann has received numerous awards in violin performance from widely recognized organizations, including the Albert Greenfield Competition, Davidson Institute, and the Virtu Foundation. Recently, she was an invited guest on cable television's "Connecticut Images", on CN8's program "Real Life", and can be heard on PRI/NPR with concert pianist Christopher O'Riley. Her recording of "Wellenspiel" was released in May 2004, on "Palimpsest" (a Yale University publication). Performing in recitals and as a featured soloist with orchestras throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions, Ann's repertoire includes all standard works for violin.

Ann plays on a 320-year-old Grancino violin with Heifetz's own custom-engineered mute that he used for four decades. Ann is currently writing and developing a new album and studies musicology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is engaged and lives in Philadelphia, PA.