{"id":4877,"date":"2025-06-30T15:36:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T19:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=4877"},"modified":"2025-07-14T13:45:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:45:31","slug":"music-and-teaching-make-the-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2025\/06\/music-and-teaching-make-the-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Music and Teaching Make the Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank Fontaine connects a passion for music with a passion for teaching, and his students are the better for it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re under your parents\u2019 roof, the last thing you want to do is be just like them \u2014 at least that\u2019s how it worked for Frank Fontaine, M.A.E. \u201914. His father, Frank Sr., spent 10 years playing with the legendary Duke Ellington Orchestra, and Frank Jr. had no desire to pick up an instrument. But in elementary school, a teacher handed him a plastic recorder, and that moment just might have launched a music career that has included four Grammy nominations and led him to become a music educator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t necessarily very good at that age, but music gave me a way to fit in,\u201d Fontaine says. \u201cI found my people through music.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t until freshman year of high school that he really zoned in on music. \u201cI attended a concert, watched the saxophone player and got the bug,\u201d he says. \u201cI dropped out of high school, jumped in a Winnebago with friends, and made a go of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fontaine\u2019s approach to a musical career panned out. After finding a place in the music scene, he returned to his hometown of Los Angeles to finish high school. But to really buckle down, he needed to leave the West Coast. \u201cI knew I wouldn\u2019t be able to focus on school, that I\u2019d be playing gigs,\u201d he admits. \u201cMoving to New York bought me a year or two of anonymity, so I was able to get through undergrad before returning to full-time playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fontaine pursued his undergraduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music, studying jazz performance and composition. Through connections he made there, Fontaine composed for well-known Latin jazz artist Wilson \u201cChembo\u201d Corniel Jr., leading to a Grammy nomination in 2009. From there, Fontaine moved to New Jersey to obtain a teaching certification, thinking it would be a one- or two-year stint. \u201cBut I fell in love with it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Recognizing that in teaching he had found a new and complementary passion, Fontaine began the Master of Arts in Education program at Seton Hall. There, he crossed paths with Joseph Martinelli, senior faculty associate in the Education Studies department, who became his teaching mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was far out of my comfort zone, but he helped me find my footing and plot a forward trajectory,\u201d Fontaine explains.<\/p>\n

Today, Fontaine is a music teacher and the band and orchestra leader at L.A.\u2019s McAuliffe Middle School. He\u2019s also continuing his education, remotely pursuing a doctorate in music education at Boston University.<\/p>\n

Martinelli says that while he gets to know all his students, Fontaine stood out. \u201cI thought his music background was amazing,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was creative, took risks and had a lot on his plate. He was always happy and everyone knew him \u2014 he\u2019s a great conversationalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connections matter<\/strong>
\nFontaine has gone on to earn three more Grammy nominations, and has worked with Patti LaBelle, Mariah Carey, Celia Cruz and many others. He remains humble about his role in their music, but in hindsight, can clearly see how he came to work with them. \u201cThe music industry is built on social capital,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be the most talented person in the world. But if you know the right people and position yourself well, you can move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fontaine says he\u2019s learned a great deal from the celebrities he\u2019s worked with. \u201cPatti LaBelle is a big personality, but she\u2019s also very patient and advocates for giving people a shot,\u201d he says. \u201cMariah Carey demonstrates incredible work ethic. She influences me in so many ways beyond her money, beauty and stardom.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his role as an educator, Fontaine brings his music passion to the table but also seeks to teach his students that there\u2019s no uniform way to match up talent and connections. He\u2019s just returned from two jazz competitions, with his students, demonstrating the flip side of the social capital coin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my responsibility to make them aware of the fact that hard work and life events set us up for success,\u201d he says. \u201cThe more I can illuminate that for my students, the better off they\u2019ll be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amanda Loudin is a Maryland-based freelance writer.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank Fontaine connects a passion for music with a passion for teaching, and his students are the better for it.\u00a0 When you\u2019re under your parents\u2019 roof, the last thing you want to do is be just like them \u2014 at least that\u2019s how it worked for Frank Fontaine, M.A.E. \u201914. His father, Frank Sr., spent…<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingMusic and Teaching Make the Man<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5820,"featured_media":4878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,351,49,317],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-articles-2025-2029","category-arts","category-profile","entry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5820"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4877"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4927,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions\/4927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}