Composer Dr. Vanessa Fountain
Compositions:

As a composer of acoustic and electronic music, Dr. Fountain draws her inspiration from nature and life events. Most of her music is programmatic and tonal with inflections from popular music as well as
late 19th century forms and harmonies.

Selected samples:


Journey of a Falling Leaf: for solo harp or piano

Vision in Vanilla: a rock-style composition featuring keyboard, drums
and  guitars


Moody: an electronic composition utilizing live sources, manipulated
recorded sounds and computer-generated sounds.

The CD
Here's to You! includes solo compositions "Journey of a
Falling Leaf" and "One Last Beauty." The more upbeat "Sebastian's
Salsa" for harp ensemble can be found on
Gold2Ivory.
Compositions and New Music for Harp
Transcription and Arranging:

Beginning with her doctoral dissertation, "Franz Liszt and the Harp",
Dr. Fountain maintains a great interest in transcribing great works of
music not written for the harp, transforming them into idiomatic harp
compositions. She often presents lecture recitals detailing the history of
the works transcribed as well as the transcription process itself. Works
she has transcribed range from piano solos of Beethoven, Debussy,
Chopin and Joplin to orchestral works of Vivaldi, to recent jazz, popular
and rock music not often heard on the instrument. In addition, she
arranges music of all genres for solo harp and ensembles of various sizes
and instrumentation.

Dr. Fountain's CD,
Gold2Ivory, includes the four Liszt
transcriptions from her dissertation as well as her interpretation of
Delibes' "Flower Duet" from Lakme.
Promotion of New Music:

For the past several years 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.


Reverie (for Vanessa Sheldon) by Masatoshi Mitsumoto