The Future of Education
Jeanette Fontaine
Institution: Mississippi State University
Country: United States
Jeanette Fontaine, mezzo-soprano, serves as Associate Professor of Voice and Voice Area Coordinator at Mississippi State University. Dr. Fontaine is an avid performer who frequently gives recitals and participates in chamber music collaborations. Her operatic roles include: Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Principessa in Suor Angelica, Zita in Gianni Schicchi, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Nancy in Albert Herring, The Announcer in Gallantry, Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, and Jenny in Die Dreigroschenoper. She has appeared as the mezzo-soprano soloist with the Starkville Symphony Orchestra for performances of Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Dr. Fontaine’s research interests include the accessibility of Russian diction for undergraduate singers and encouraging equity, collegiality, and collaboration in academia. She has presented lecture recitals on Russian diction with Dr. Roza Tulyaganova at numerous international, national, and regional conferences, most notably the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Vienna, Austria in 2022 and at the Hawaii University International Conferences on STEM/STEAM and Education in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2021. She presented a poster paper titled “Cross-Training for the Voice” with Dr. Jennifer Bryant Pedersen at the 55th National Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2018. Dr. Fontaine’s article “He Sang, She Sang: The Gendered Song Cycle” appeared in the September/October 2013 issue of the NATS Journal of Singing. She was also a contributing researcher to Carol Kimball’s two esteemed texts: Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature and Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music.
Dr. Fontaine began her career at Mississippi State University in 2012. She teaches voice lessons, diction, and song literature. As the music director and conductor for MSU Opera, she has had the opportunity to conduct three operas with orchestra Suor Angelica (2019), Amahl and the Night Visitors (2022), and The Magic Flute (2023). She is one of the founders of Vocal Odyssey in Creativity & Education (VOiCE), an annual event designed to provide participants the opportunity to work with guest artists and pedagogues from all over the nation. Previous guest artists for the VOiCE event include acclaimed sopranos Lisette Oropesa (2018) and Indra Thomas (2020). Dr. Fontaine’s students have been accepted to graduate voice programs at prestigious conservatories such as Eastman School of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee and respected graduate voice programs at Temple University, Baylor University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her students have placed in state and regional National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions and in the Mississippi Music Teachers Association collegiate competition, among others.
A native of California, Dr. Fontaine earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Alabama. An advocate for expanding the presence of classical music in underprivileged regions, Dr. Fontaine has found her calling at Mississippi State University.
Areas of expertise: Higher education, foreign language diction, music direction, vocal performance.
Dr. Fontaine’s research interests include the accessibility of Russian diction for undergraduate singers and encouraging equity, collegiality, and collaboration in academia. She has presented lecture recitals on Russian diction with Dr. Roza Tulyaganova at numerous international, national, and regional conferences, most notably the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Vienna, Austria in 2022 and at the Hawaii University International Conferences on STEM/STEAM and Education in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2021. She presented a poster paper titled “Cross-Training for the Voice” with Dr. Jennifer Bryant Pedersen at the 55th National Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2018. Dr. Fontaine’s article “He Sang, She Sang: The Gendered Song Cycle” appeared in the September/October 2013 issue of the NATS Journal of Singing. She was also a contributing researcher to Carol Kimball’s two esteemed texts: Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature and Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music.
Dr. Fontaine began her career at Mississippi State University in 2012. She teaches voice lessons, diction, and song literature. As the music director and conductor for MSU Opera, she has had the opportunity to conduct three operas with orchestra Suor Angelica (2019), Amahl and the Night Visitors (2022), and The Magic Flute (2023). She is one of the founders of Vocal Odyssey in Creativity & Education (VOiCE), an annual event designed to provide participants the opportunity to work with guest artists and pedagogues from all over the nation. Previous guest artists for the VOiCE event include acclaimed sopranos Lisette Oropesa (2018) and Indra Thomas (2020). Dr. Fontaine’s students have been accepted to graduate voice programs at prestigious conservatories such as Eastman School of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee and respected graduate voice programs at Temple University, Baylor University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her students have placed in state and regional National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions and in the Mississippi Music Teachers Association collegiate competition, among others.
A native of California, Dr. Fontaine earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Alabama. An advocate for expanding the presence of classical music in underprivileged regions, Dr. Fontaine has found her calling at Mississippi State University.
Areas of expertise: Higher education, foreign language diction, music direction, vocal performance.
