Published: November 03, 2009 01:03 pm      

'She's an all-time favorite' | Violinist makes fourth stop with chamber series

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

A violin virtuoso has become a favorite with Johnstown audiences.

Twenty-one-year-old Ann Fontanella will be center stage when the Chamber Music Series of Greater Johnstown presents its next concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 21 at First Presbyterian Church, 309 Lincoln St., Johnstown.

“She’s an all-time favorite,” said Victoria Czarnek, board president.

“People ask when Ann is coming back. We didn’t have her last year because we didn’t want to bring the same person back all the time, and everyone was asking when she was coming back.”

Fontanella, who lives in Philadelphia, first played for the chamber series when she was 16 and returned in 2006 and 2007.

She will meet with members of Johnstown Symphony Youth Orchestra during morning rehearsal on Nov. 21 and give a master class in the afternoon.

A student recital will be held at 7 that evening before the concert.

“She will give tickets to those who would like to attend her performance,” Czarnek said. “She continues to dedicate her life to music and expand her repertoire.”

Fontanella will be working with a local accompanist for the concert.

She has been invited to play with symphony orchestras in London and Prague.

“It’s not happened yet,” Czarnek said.

“She has been approached by many musical organizations.”

Fontanella studied under Sherry Kloss, the teaching assistant of famed violinist Jascha Heifetz and was the protégée and final student of violin virtuoso Erick Friedman.

Friedman was Heifeitz’s protégé and the only violinist ever to record with him.

He believes that Fontanella has the same natural ability as Heifetz and that few people in the world play the violin as well as she does.

Playing on a 320-year-old Grancino violin, Fontanella’s repertoire includes all standard violin concertos, and her recital programs introduce her own works as well as other contemporary chamber music pieces.

She was an award recipient in the American Society of Composers and Publishers’ Morton Gould Young Composers Competition in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2005.

Fontanella also was featured in a Symphony Magazine article titled, “Born to Compose,” which was published in 2003.

“She’s different from other current composers because she focuses on compositions with melody,” Czarnek said.

“They’re a western European style of composition, more melodic and pleasing.”

Fontanella released her debut album “Bach, Schubert & Bruch” in 2005 and is currently writing and developing a new album.

She continues to study musicology at the University of Pennsylvania and is supported by Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour.

Fontanella has an active site on YouTube that includes all of her performances.



Concert

Who: Ann Fontanella, violinist.

What: Chamber Music Series of Greater Johnstown.

When: 7 p.m. Nov 21.

Where: First Presbyterian Church, 309 Lincoln St., downtown Johnstown.

Tickets: $15 or two for $25 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $5 for students.

Information: 467-7943.