Adam V. Fontana was appointed Artistic Director of the New York Wind Symphony in the summer of 2026. He also joins the faculty of Manhasset High School as Director of Bands in September 2026. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Music, Director of Bands, and Associate Professor of Music at SUNY New Paltz where he conducted Scratch Band, Symphonic Band, and Orchestra, and taught courses in conducting. Adam is passionate about music education, the art of conducting, and the important role music plays in our society.

As a conductor, Fontana frequently collaborates with living composers, having premiered and commissioned works by Stacey Barelos, Gala Flagello, Shuying Li, Narong Prangcharoen, David Stock, Jess Langston Turner, and Pulitzer Prize winner Zhou Long. Bands and orchestras under his leadership have performed at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Division Conference, the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Winter Conference, and the Kansas Music Educators Association All-State Conference. He has recently appeared as a guest conductor with the Woodstock and Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestras, wind ensembles at Purdue University, The Hartt School, and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and numerous high school honor bands and orchestras across seven states. Fontana participated in the International Conductors Guild Frederick Fennell Memorial Masterclass at the Eastman School of Music and was selected as a Conducting Fellow at the inaugural Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic’s Reynolds Conducting Institute. As a clarinetist, he has performed with ensembles including the Juilliard Orchestra, UMKC Wind Symphony, Hartt Wind Ensemble, and the Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra.

Fontana holds a doctorate in conducting from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and degrees in music education and conducting from SUNY Potsdam, Columbia University–Teachers College, and the Hartt School. He studied conducting with Steven Davis, Glen Adsit, Dino Anagnost, and Timothy Topolewski, and clarinet with Alan Woy and Tom Scott. He has over twenty years of teaching experience, including nine years of public school teaching experience in New York and Connecticut, spanning band, orchestra, choral, and general music.