Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Fountain.
Hi Vanessa , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in the South Bay- Los Angeles County- and started playing the harp when I was nine years old. Although I never thought of myself as one, people called me a genius or a prodigy because I started reading at age two and high school at age 12.
That same year, my parents discovered the Early Entrance Program at Cal State Los Angeles and, after completing the entrance requirements, I began college full-time at the age of 13, majoring in music. After graduating, I stayed to complete my master’s degree at age 17, then moved to Tucson to study for my doctorate at the University of Arizona. There, I was the teaching assistant for the harp department and member of their international touring harp ensemble, HarpFusion. Along the way we performed in China, South Korea, Spain, and for Maya Angelou’s 75th birthday party hosted by Oprah Winfrey.
Just before graduating with my Doctorate of Musical Arts at the age of 19, I was hired (over the phone!) as an adjunct faculty member at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA. This was my first experience as a classroom teacher and with community college and, 20 years later, I’m still dedicated to the community college mission. I was with College of the Desert for 10 years and taught part-time for other institutions before becoming Associate Professor and Chair of Music at Mt. San Jacinto College, where I taught music history, theory and directed the student/community orchestra. For nearly the past three years I have been Dean of Arts, Languages and Communication at Grossmont College, which brought me to San Diego County.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My father traveled frequently for his job, which resulted in him not being around much while I was growing up. My parents divorced when I was 12, leaving just my mom and I. She drove me to college (about 30 miles each way) every day, as well as to the many rehearsals and performances that come with being a music major, us loading my harp in and out of her 1987 Acura Integra (which took some creativity!). Some people, including my high school English teacher who said I was “too short” to attend college, didn’t agree with my progressing through school at an accelerated rate, but with the support of my mom and my more open-minded teachers, I forged my path forward.
There have been individuals along the way in both my schooling and career who sought to take advantage of my talents and generous nature. Even so, I consider myself extremely fortunate and strive to use my experience and abilities to help others, whether this advocating as an administrator to make sure faculty, staff and students are treated equitably, or spreading joy by sharing my music.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in playing music on the harp that people might not expect. For my doctorate, I transcribed four virtuosic works by Franz Liszt for my instrument and since have created interpretations and arrangements of a variety of music spanning Classical, pop, jazz, rock, and international genres. (My arrangement of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” was very popular at a solo performance I gave a few years ago in Cercedilla, Spain). I’ve had the opportunity to perform for notables such as Florence Henderson and Arnold Spielberg and have concertized with artists including Barry Manilow, Lucie Arnaz and Il Divo.
I’m always up for a challenge in adapting a new piece for the harp. At the request of a colleague, I recently learned “Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden and am currently working on swing-era jazz arrangements for a concert at Grossmont College in December.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think starting college at such a young age could be viewed as a risk, but for me it was an opportunity to focus on what I loved to do- play music.
Leaving my tenured faculty position at Mt. San Jacinto College to become a dean at Grossmont was definitely a risk- coming to a new college, new community, and new position with so much to learn. But I thrive on challenges and always look for ways to grow and develop- these changes have given me the chance to do just that. No two days are ever the same, and there is never a dull moment! It is especially great that I can integrate my work as a harpist and music instructor into my role here at Grossmont and throughout the community.
Pricing:
- Pricing for music lessons and performance is available upon request.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gold2ivory.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fountainofharp
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fountainofharp
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fountainofharp/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/drvanessafountain
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fountainofharp?lang=en
