Restless and talkative, he defines himself as a versatile, all-terrain musician: “Because I did a lot of things,” he says Gustavo Fontana giving some altitude to his low profile. Like singing in the Children’s Choir of the Teatro Colón, playing the trumpet, directing, producing and managing in the public sphere —as director of studies at the Teatro Argentino de La Plata, for example, or as holder of the chair of Orchestral Conducting at the National University of the Arts—and, privately, with the production company Sinfónico.AR”. To his artistic career must be added a behind-the-scenes complex. It was not easy to be a widower with three small children and rebuild the pieces of the home, containing the children and providing livelihood. In his case it was literal: “The show must go on.” And those children who are teenagers today go in and out of Belgrano’s house, as this interview begins. Fontana was born in Buenos Aires, studied at the Carlos Pellegrini Commercial College and entered the National University of the Arts (UNA).
News: From Pellegrini to UNA. It seems odd…
Gustavo Fontana: In truth, the beginning of my musical career was at the age of 8. My mom discovered that she had a great disposition for music; she sang all the time, played the flute, brought up themes by ear. She consulted my music teacher and she told her not to send me to a conservatory—she was very young—but to the Children’s Choir of the Teatro Colón. I gave a very demanding test, I entered in 1978 and I stayed there until 1983. I sang with Plácido Domingo, with Luciano Pavarotti… We did operas, ballets, toured the country, we recorded an album that competed with that of The Vienna Boys’ Choir… But my old , Elisabeth, accepted the music added to another career. Dad, Luis, also supported me. They both passed away.
News: Were your parents linked to music?
fountain: No. Dad was a soccer player. He played in San Telmo, Atlanta, Defensores de Belgrano, later in the fourth special of River; then he went to play in the Mendoza league, had a major injury and left. But soccer was my other passion. He instilled in me that I should watch football not from the fan’s point of view because if I did so I would miss a nice show. He took me to see Maradona play, when he was in Argentinos Juniors and he discouraged me from soccer, because I’m a log playing (laughs). He had the possibility of buying me a car or giving me a trumpet. Obviously he gave me the trumpet. And it’s the only one I keep of the twelve I had.
News: So that boy choreuta was becoming a trumpeter.
fountain: Yes. He gave me the trumpet in 1984, when spending $2,000 was a fortune. I am very struck by the infinite possibilities of the instrument, in so many aesthetics. It is used in popular music, in jazz, salsa, pop, everything classical… and from there derives my great interest in crossing these musical genres. I studied at the National Conservatory with my first teacher Osvaldo Lacunza and later perfected myself abroad. My first professional performance was with the youth orchestra of Radio Nacional. And I continued playing in the USA and the best theaters in Europe. It was more than 20 years.
News: Did he get a salary?
fountain: As a choreut they gave me a per diem. As an amateur trumpeter he was supported by my parents with whom he lived. At 16 he was already playing at parties and getting paid. He taught classes. I formed a Celtic music group at the Centro Galicia in Buenos Aires. There I met my wife María Eugenia, the mother of my children. I played the drum, the bagpipes and danced. I got married at 20, we got married. She dedicated herself to law and turned to mediation. When he got an important position, he fell ill with cancer and died in 2011. We had three children, Santiago (21) who studies drama and dance, Juan Manuel (16) plays drums and bass and María Laura, Lala (14) who inherited the another passion, soccer. When I was widowed the boys were very young. It was complicated. But we were rebuilding the family. Today I am in a relationship with an exceptional woman, a Polish concert pianist, Anna Miernik, who is 20 years older than me. She lives in her house, close by; It’s the best for her, for both of us, for everyone. We have our spaces.
News: Do you treasure any memories that involve a before and after?
fountain: Yes, in 1981. We sang the opera Pagliacci, which normally goes with Cavalleria Rusticana. We arrived early with dad at the Teatro Colón, we sat in the audience and they were rehearsing Cavalleria. Suddenly the famous symphonic intermezzo was heard and I began to cry uncontrollably. Dad asked me what was wrong and I told him I didn’t know. But I immediately realized that it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, direct an orchestra.
News: When did you start studying directing?
fountain: I admired conductors when I was a trumpeter, but I was very critical of several. There are some with a choreographic, banal gesture, for the public and not for the musicians. And I told myself, I’m going to train as the type of director that I like to see on the podium. I started studying in 1996. My experience as a musician helped me a lot. Not only for managing the group, but in other issues such as empathy, humor. The artistic groups are peculiar. Think that we are 80, 90, 100 artists together. Today I direct the Argentine National Music Orchestra “Juan de Dios Filiberto”.
News: With whom did you study conducting?
fountain: With the Spanish Cristóbal Soler, with Milen Nachev in Bulgaria and Charles Dutoit in Switzerland. I worked as artistic director of the Mendoza Philharmonic (until 2018) and Bahía Blanca Symphony orchestras (until 2014) and also of the Córdoba and Buenos Aires symphonic bands. Abroad, I conducted the Kielce and Walbrzych Philharmonics in Poland; in Brazil, the Symphony of Belo Horizonte, Salvador de Bahía, Brasilia, Porto Alegre and the Symphonic Band of the State of São Paulo; the Philharmonics of Montevideo, Venezuela and Burgas (Bulgaria) and the Festival Symphony of Mallorca, Spain. At one point I decided that I had to stop traveling for my children; María Eugenia had been the pillar and, ours, a love of 20 years… It was difficult to continue living. And although I received a lot of help from my wife’s family, I decided to stay in Buenos Aires. I was certain that the job was coming. And wine. I started working with the National Symphony and in many concerts as a guest.
News: Have you always lived on music?
fountain: Yes. First it was trumpet and teaching, then conducting and trumpet, then conducting and teaching. 3 years ago he unanimously won one of the orchestra conducting positions at UNA. I’m still a trumpeter for the City’s symphonic band. These are fixed income. And everything that arises in a freelance way. Someone defined me as an all-round musician because I am very versatile. I conducted a lot of symphonic music, opera, ballet and I like the crossovers with Ricardo Mollo, Pedro Aznar, Elena Roger, Pipi Piazzolla, Chango Spasiuk…
News: How do you specify those crosses?
fountain: I am careful of my ways. Our activity gives a lot for narcissism and megalomania, something that I hate from the lectern, as a musician. That’s why I’m not an all-knowing director. I consider myself part of the team even if I have to lead it. One depends on the musicians he directs, he cannot destroy them.
News: Projects?
fountain: The recordings of the Argentine National Anthem and the national songs are in full process. The stable casts of the Nation intervene. In addition, I founded three orchestras. The symphonic band of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, a modern Buenos Aires youth orchestra, which did not last long, and I have just founded the Solistas de Buenos Aires orchestra, made up of the most outstanding of the National Symphony, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the stable orchestra of the Teatro Colón. We are 23 and we are projecting presentations at the CCK, in General Pico, La Pampa. I am helped by María Cristina López, a guardian angel, who is head of the archives at the Teatro Colón. She soon traveled to Campinhas, São Paulo, for 3 days, to direct an orchestra that I have never seen. Then to Medellín, where I have concerts with the National Symphony… With the production company Sinfónico.AR 3×8. We put on a show that goes from Gardel to Rodrigo, passing through Spinetta, Virus, Soda Stereo, León Gieco, Atahualpa… all with an orchestra, a band, and three singers. Next year I will give a conducting course in Panama and another in Valencia, at the High Performance Musical School.
News: How do the ups and downs of Argentine reality affect you?
fountain: I try not to let them cross me, because in 54 years I have seen many of these. What I try to instill in my children is not to suffer on account. Most of the things one fears end up not happening. We lived a death, it was very hard. From that, the mere fact of being together and being able to share a trip is to celebrate. But we are bombarded with bad news. The data replaced the story. And there is no time to reflect. Many are connected with unconfirmed data and immediacy. The musical world requires delay. That people go to the theater, sit down, listen, interpret, enjoy…
