" "When Vanessa Fountain plays the harp, she bares her soul. Her passion fills each note as it rises from the harp, drawing the audience into her world." "
Peninsula News
It was during her first harp lesson, at the age of nine, that Dr. Fountain (née Sheldon) discovered her life’s vocation, a career in harp performance. A native Southern Californian, she holds a Bachelor's and Master’s of Music in harp performance from theCalifornia State University Los Angeles, where she was named the CSU system's youngest to receive a graduate degree. In 2005 she earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in harp and musicology from the University of Arizona, where she was the Graduate Teaching Assistant to professor Carrol McLaughlin and assistant director ofthe world-renown HarpFusion. She has also been honored as the University of Arizona's youngest doctoral graduate, receiving her degree at age 19.
Dr. Fountain has performed as a member and guest soloist with chamber ensembles, orchestras, and bands across the United States. Highlights of her international tours include concerts in Shanghai, Seoul, Madrid and South Africa. Her programs include selections from multiple genres, including her own transcriptions, compositions and arrangements. Dr. Fountain has worked as an advisor and editor to student and professional composers. As a result she has premiered and presented works by composers including Masatoshi Mitsumoto, Juan Pablo Contreras and Peggy Falkenstein in such venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and as director of the MSJC Orchestra. She is always interested in working with composers curious about the timbral possibilities and intricacies of the harp.
In addition to playing for such notables as Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Tippi Hedren, Barbara Sinatra, Florence Henderson, Arnold Spielberg and John Bayless, she has performed at the Amargosa Opera House, the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education at UC Santa Cruz, for the Japanese Ambassador and Embassy, for the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, as well as with the Anderson String Quartet, Barry Manilow and Il Divo.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her performance, including the Valeria Finzi Memorial Harp Competition two years consecutively and has been named as a Medici Scholar and in Who's Who Among American Women. She is also a member of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Golden Key International Honour Society. As a member of the Venice Youth Pops Orchestra, Dr. Fountain was featured in a Southern California Edison television commercial. Other television appearances include feature-length stories on ABC's 20/20, KUAT's Arizona Illustrated, and KGUN 9 News, in addition to radio appearances. Dr. Fountain currently concertizes by request in a variety of venues throughout Southern California as well as nationally and internationally as a soloist and ensemble member on various harp types ranging from Celtic to electric.
"She demonstrated so much strength and power in her performance. That's terrific because it is such an integral thing. It is one of the characteristics we see in prodigy performers. Her musical ability is outstanding. She hears well, listens well, interprets well and she communicates well. It is very clear that Vanessa is not only willing but eager to apply herself and test her own limits. That personal commitment is essential and critical to success."