Jean-Michel Fonteneau is a distinguished Franco-American cellist and educator currently serving as Artist-Teacher at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. As a founding member of the acclaimed Quatuor Ravel, he performed at prestigious venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, garnering prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition and Victoires de la Musique Classique.
Throughout his career, Fonteneau has collaborated with renowned artists including Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Kim Kashkashian, and members of the Amadeus, Tokyo, and Juilliard Quartets. His expertise spans both modern and baroque performance practice, as evidenced by his regular appearances with historically informed ensembles and his extensive discography on Albany Records, MSR Classics, and Centaur Records.
Prior to joining Longy, Fonteneau held distinguished positions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Lyon Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, France, where he pioneered innovative chamber music curricula and mentorship programs. His pedagogical approach integrates technical mastery with holistic development, emphasizing both artistic excellence and professional preparedness. This comprehensive methodology has produced successful performers, educators, and musical entrepreneurs who have appeared at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and major festivals including Verbier and Tanglewood.
A sought-after clinician, Fonteneau maintains an active presence on the international festival circuit, including long-standing faculty positions at Yellow Barn and appearances at Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, Domaine Forget, and Orford Music Academy. His enduring commitment to nurturing the next generation of artists is reflected in his philosophy of developing self-actualized musicians equipped with both artistic depth and professional resilience.
What is your hometown?
Chartres, France
What are you passionate about outside of music?
Physics and research in physics. Dynamic interrelation between mind and body.
Who were your major teachers?
Dimitry Markevitch, Mark Drobinsky, and Martin Lovett (Amadeus Quartet).
What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?
“The journey to reach your goals is how you truly discover your unique voice as an artist and how you grow as individuals.”
What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?
The 1976 Prades Summer Festival in the Pyrenees, France.
What was a turning point in your career?
1989: My quartet, "Le Quatuor Ravel", won two major prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition and attained national and international recognition.
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
Research in fundamental physics.
If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?
J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Henri Dutilleux.
From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?
Paris, 1889 to 1930.
What are your most important collaborations?
Concerts and masterclasses with Martin Lovett and Norbert Brainin (members of the Amadeus Quartet); Multiple concerts at SFCM with Robert Mann, violinist and founder of the Juilliard Quartet; Ongoing musical collaborations since 2000 with faculty and students of the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Vermont.
What recordings can we hear you on?
Heartstrings, Albany Records
Solos & Duos, Albany Records
Tribute to Chou Wen-Chung, Albany Records
Autour de Messiaen, MSR Classics
String quartets by Ravel and Chausson
Strings quartets by Debussy, Dutilleux and Fauré - Victoire de la Musique Classique 1994, Musidisc-France
André Caplet - Hanna Schaer, Isabelle Moretti, Quatuor Ravel, Bernard Tétu – Le Miroir De Jésus - Inscriptions Champêtres, Universal Classics
Date: June 10, 2018
Author: Jessica Courtier
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society has always cultivated a playful attitude toward classical music, so it’s fitting that they’ve chosen “Toy Stories” as a theme of their 27th chamber music festival.
Now running through June 24, the festival consists of six programs, each performed twice and each clustering music together under titles like Teddy Talks, Play-Doh and Transformers.
American Girls, part of weekend one, features music composed by women born in or residing in the U.S. (Plus a Haydn piano trio which was delightful, if only tangentially connected to the theme).
Yura Lee was joined by Jean-Michel Fonteneau (cello) and BDDS co-founder Jeffrey Sykes (piano) for two piano trios: Haydn’s Piano Trio and C Major, and a 1921 one by Rebecca Clarke called, simply, Piano Trio. Composed over 120 years apart, the two obviously sounded quite different. And yet both were lovely reminders of chamber music as conversation: the exchange of musical materials between instruments and the pleasure of seeing how closely musicians watch and cue off of one another.
Date: February 4, 2013
Author: Ken Iisaka
At the Conservatory on Monday, before the performance began, cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau announced that the players were using gut strings that were typical in the 19th century. In addition, instead of the forceful modern bowing technique for projection, they would use an older bowing technique that produces lighter pressure on the strings.
From the first measure of the Mendelssohn quintet, the warmth and the depth of the sound, quite different from the modern timbre, were evident. With the strings under a great deal less tension than modern strings, instruments can vibrate more freely, Fonteneau explained later, producing a warmer, more resonant sound. In addition, colors of the five instruments on stage were more cohesive, blending those instruments and performers into a more uniform voice.
The cohesive sound was most evident in the first measure of the second movement, Intermezzo. It opens in unison, but it then blossoms into a beautiful harmony as each of the five instruments acquired its respective voice. It made for a magical moment.
Email: jeanmichel.fonteneau@gmail.com
Phone: (415) 385-2097
