Soloist Spotlight: Lito Fontana

Hi everybody and welcome to the latest edition of the Brass Band Hog Blog. Last week I launched what was hopefully the first of a series of interviews titled 'unsung heroes', a series aimed at profiling and rightly showcasing great musicians, administrators and personalities of the banding world. The response to the feature on Mike Warriner reflects the high regard with which he is held across the banding world. Thanks again Mike.

Whilst putting this series together I have this week been fortunate enough to meet up (digitally of course) with another great player - this time one with a global reputation as a solo artist. I am extremely grateful to Lito Fontana, Schagerl artist, for joining me to chat about his musical journey. Here's what Lito had to say:

About Lito Fontana 

BBH: Could you please tell the reader a little bit about yourself and your history please?  

LF: I was born in Jose C. Paz, a small town 80km from Buenos Aires but moved with my family to Italy in 1973 due to economic and political reasons (for example a military dictatorship at the front door). In Italy I started working with my father as a shoemaker in the morning and in the afternoon I joined the conservatory of music to study trombone. Soon after my diploma I started to collaborate with various chamber music groups, classical symphonic orchestras and the orchestra of the Italian television (RAI).

Meeting my wife changed my life as we moved to Austria where my real career started as teacher at the Musikschule Hall and the Conservatory of Bolzano (Italy). I started to cooperate with various well known ensembles, symphonic orchestras and artists. It was at this time that I got in touch with Brass Band Oberösterreich with a great team including Hans Gansch, Christian Hollensteiner and Hannes Buchegger as conductor. This was also the start of my career as a soloist with a lot of concerts and masterclasses around the world as well as the creation of my trombone model in collaboration with Schagerl. 

In Argentina there are no brass bands (as with the rest of South America) which is a pity because there are a lot of great brass musicians. In Austria, where I have lived since 1991, there is a small but good brass band movement. Beside Brass Band Oberösterreich there is the R.E.T. Brass Band, Brass Band Fröschl Hall and for the younger musicians, the Catch Basin Brass Band, (in which some of my students play) who are actually the current European Youth Brass Band Champions.

BBH: Who were your early musical Inspirations and influences? 

LF: From the beginning my inspiration was Branimir Slokar and Joseph Alessi in terms of trombone players, but as a soloist one musician was the most important influence for me, I learned so much from him playing together a long time in Brass Band Oberösterreich. This is Hans Gansch.

BBH: Were brass bands your first love, or did you come to brass banding via classical playing? 

LF: I started with classical music and jazz but soon after moving to Austria I discovered the brass band and immediately knew that this is my world. I love to play in brass bands, it is thrilling and you can learn a lot, much more than in classical orchestras ( in terms of brass playing and with all due respect to classical orchestras).

BBH: You studied at the Prestigious ‘Rossini’ Conservatoire in Italy. What were the key influences behind your decision to choose to study in Italy? What was it like to live and study there? 

LF: I studied at the Conservatory Rossini, because when we moved to Italy I lived in San Benedetto del Tronto, which is 120km from Pesaro. I started to study trombone at the age of 14. It was great to study in Pesaro as it is one of the most important conservatories in Italy.

BBH: After moving to Italy, which ensembles did you become involved with? What is your favourite playing experience from this time? 

LF: In Italy I worked with various Brass ensembles, in musicals and with several Italian symphonic orchestras as the orchestras from Naples, Florence, Parma and Rome. I also joined the orchestra RAI ( Italian television) in the most important TV shows which was a special experience.

Your move to Austria, Brass Band Oberösterreich and becoming a soloist:

BBH: From Italy, you moved to Austria where you joined the Brass Band Oberösterreich. What influenced you to make this move? Why did you decide to join Brass Band OÖ? 

LF: I met my wife Mona in 1987 in Spain and after our marriage in 1989, we moved to Innsbruck, her home town, in 1991. Austria is the cradle of music and music is ingrained in the culture. One of the main reasons for moving was to provide better opportunities for my career as in Austria, musicians are respected and supported. Eventually, Hannes Buchegger and Thomas Beiganz, musician and manager of Brass Band Oberösterreich offered me to join them and I knew that this was the right decision. I had ten extraordinary years with the band.

BBH: How did the music scene differ from Austria to Italy, and indeed from Argentina? Would you agree with the old saying ‘music is a universal language’? How did you find the transition to different cultures? 

LF: There is a good music scene in Italy in terms of well known symphonic orchestras and also conservatories, but these are a little bit behind due to the system. In fact a lot of young people, and nearly all the best Italian musicians, go abroad to study. In Argentina the culture is a little bit left out. In Buenos Aires there is the prestigious Orchestra of the Teatro Colon, but again, a lot of musicians study abroad before going back home to work in different orchestras all over Argentina. Studying in Argentina is very difficult, especially due to the economic situation. In Austria the music schools, conservatories and universities are at very high levels such as the Mozarteum in Salzburg. There are a lot of prestigious orchestras notably The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Yes I fully agree to the term music is a universal language, but with different styles in the various countries - so you have to adjust yourself to these differences in the country you live and play music, as it happened to me. To me, you have to respect the culture of every country, therefore it is good that every country has its musical identity and everybody can learn from each other.

BBH: What is your highlight from your time with the Brass Band OÖ? 

LF: I have a lot of highlights from my time in the band, but the best was when the band competed at the European Brass Band Championship 2010 in Linz. We finished in third ahead of The Black Dyke Band and at the Gala concert of this competition, I performed with Latin Brass a Latin American piece which was always my desire. The audience was enthusiastic to hear this music performed by a Brass Band which was never done before. As a consequence of my performances with BB Oberösterreich I was nominated in the Brass Band of the Year by 4barsrest in 2008 and 2010 and in 2019 the special award for my career.

BBH: Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of your generation, you have been the inspiration for many young musicians across the continent, and indeed the world. How do you feel when you look back on your playing career? What have been some of the highlights? 

LF: I am really happy to have arrived where I am with a lot of study, sacrifice, humility and respect. I was also very lucky to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves to me. As highlights there are so many particularly the performing in many important festivals but the two that stand out are the tours I made with Allen Vizzutti and with James Morrison. I have performed and given masterclasses with many world renowned colleagues and it's these that gave me the greatest satisfactions - gaining their respect as artists and people.

BBH: Can you share some of the detail about your personal practice sessions please? Have these changed over the years? Is there one technical aspect of playing that you think is key to being successful, or is it a combination of things? What would you say these are? 

LF: My study method was, and is, made up of many warm-ups; a lot of technique and care of the sound. This is a method that I made mine as original without copying anyone. When people hear my sound they say: “Yes, this is Lito Fontana”. I am always searching for a show and pieces related to skill and interpretation and pieces that my colleagues do not perform in their concerts. I created my personal style and interpretation, this is the key to my success.

BBH: What advice would you give to young trombonists just setting out in their musical careers. Is there a piece of advice you wish you had been given as a young man? 

My advice is to take a lot of care in intonation and sound in all tones high and low and to achieve in all a full and “round” sound as well as clean technique, flexibility and elasticity to be studied at full speed. When I was young, in Italy, I wished they'd cared more about elegance, which I further invested in in Austria with a great teacher, Michael Stern.

BBH: You also work as adjudicator across Europe. Do the challenges of adjudicating differ from those of a soloist? What is it you enjoy about being an adjudicator? 

The challenge as an adjudicator is to give the right value to the interpretation and performance, as well the technique etc. As a soloist the greatest challenge is to communicate with the audience and convey emotions. When adjudicating I love to hear how the competitors interpret the pieces, as well as to give advice and collaborate with colleagues to judge the performance.

Becoming a Schagerl Artist 

BBH: You are an internationally endorsed Schagerl artist. How did this partnership come about? What does this mean to you both from a practical point of view and from the prestige that comes with this name? Do you find it adds pressure to you as a performance, or inspire you to continue pursuing excellence? 

LF: After my collaboration with Besson came to an end, Karl Schagerl approached me with a view to endorsing his instruments. I accepted as I love how they create the instruments and the originality of each model. Schagerl is like a family, with a lot of well known artists all over the world who I have met at the Schagerl Brass Festival. The good handcraft of the Schagerl team gave me the idea to create a instrument for myself, with the quality of sound, elegance and power. The development needed nearly two years, but the result was what I wanted. I think becoming endorser for Schagerl was a big step in quality for myself, and for Schagerl to have a name such as mine, bringing his name all over the world. This is not a pressure for me, quite the opposite in fact. It is a pleasure to represent him and to see how all musicians appreciate the sound and the quality of my instrument.

BBH: As a Schagerl artist, you’re in an elite group of exceptionally talented musicians. What experiences has this led to? Have you had the opportunities to perform with these other players? What are some of your highlights? 

LF: As an artist I am really happy to be part of the Schagerl family with other famous artists all over the world and it is great to perform with them. Thomas Gansch took part in my CD 'A mi manera' in the piece Fandango by composer Joseph Turrin. It was really great and we also performed this piece at the Schagerl Brass Festival in 2014. The finale of the festival was a piece composed and directed by James Morrison and performed by all present Schagerl stars. A big emotion.

BBH: Over the years you’ve released a number of solo CDs. Does one of these stand out as your favourite either from a production point of view, or because of the tracklist? 

LF: I made several CDs in my career, but my favourites are 'When I walk alone' with pianist Fausto Quintabà and featuring a special appearance from Hans Gansch and 'A mi manera' , a CD project I worked on a lot, and which was realized with the participation of Brass Band Fribourg (Switzerland) under the baton of Dr Robert Childs and containing Latin American music. This CD was entirely organized by my wife and myself. We put a lot of effort in it, with original pieces and unique arrangements, and the response was enormous.

BBH: Can you give some insight into the process of making a solo recording? Are you approached by a producer, or do you wake up one morning and think “I’m going to record a CD”? 

LF: It was my idea to make the CDs, and my producer always trusted me because he knows I look for special pieces. It was my wish to let the audience hear the Latin American music which is in my heart.

The current situation 

BBH: It’s difficult to avoid the current situation in the world at the moment. How has the lock-down impacted on you as a player? 

LF: The lock-down at the beginning was terrible, nobody expected such a surreal situation. I continued to teach my students from Musikschule Hall via Zoom and in doing so I discovered this teaching opportunity. Of course it is not the same teaching in person, but it's not bad. From this, I started to give free online lessons especially in South America, where young musicians do not have a lot of opportunities. 

In this period I am studying a lot and I am thinking of new shows and projects. Among these is a collaboration with Pacho Flores, an excellent trumpet player from the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, together with myself as soloists.

BBH: It’s been noticeable in these trying times that a lot of people have turned to music and other creative arts to help them get through. Why do you think this is? 

LF: Music is the most beautiful thing to pass the time; to dream and feel the emotions the moment puts you. To overcome this moment the music makes you feel good and be positive. The bad period will soon pass and soon we will go back to playing stronger than before.

The Future 

What are your hopes and aspirations for your future career? 

LF: The hopes for my future career is to be healthy and with a lot of energy to face the upcoming concerts and masterclasses, to give always more motivation to my students and to find always new shows and pieces to play for my audience. I always have the drive to play and on the stage always I feel good and I have so much fun.

BBH: In 2015 you were elected president of the Italian Brass Band Association and have played an active role in the development of brass bands in Italy. Can you tell me a little more about this? What are your hopes for this project? 

LF: My intention was to develop the Brass Band scene in Italy, as there is not so much culture for the brass instruments. We started with three Brass Bands in our national contest and now there are eight. Moreover there are three Brass Band in the conservatories of Turin, Bologna and Bari. My project is to create as many Brass Bands as possible in the conservatories in order to give the students more possibilities to play outside of orchestras. There is a lot of enthusiasm and competitiveness and this is very positive. The students love this new kind of performing music as they have discovered a new world which was totally unknown to them. We also started positively in the European competition with Brass Band Wipptal and Italian Brass Band who both won the Challenge section several times. The Italian Brass Band (from Rome) also participated in the First section in 2019 in Montreux, but they have to work hard and learn a lot to be competitive. I hope that over the years I will be able to further carry out this project of mine.

And finally, a bit of fun! 

BBH: What is your favourite piece of music, and why? 

LF: My favourite piece is 'Oblivion' by Astor Piazzolla because being Argentine I am able to really connect with it. When I play I put all my soul in it and the audience feel this. The interpretation is so important, the true soloist is the one who can give emotions to the audience. And in every concert the audience proves this to me. I am really happy about it. 

BBH: If you could travel to any period in the history of music, when would it be and why? 

LF: The romantic period of music is my preferred one because it is part of my performing style. The operas are my favourites, in fact I adore to play the romances such as 'Nessun dorma' from 'Turandot' by Puccini, who is my favourite composer. In fact I always imagine to be a tenor singer and I try to make my trombone sound be like a tenor singer’s voice. This is my characteristic !

BBH: Thank you Lito, it's been fascinating to talk to you. Best of luck with all your future projects!