Biography
Dana Fonteneau is the creator of the WholeHearted Musician™ and an executive coach and consultant for Dana Fonteneau Consulting, LLC.
Her international practice is a balance between award winning classical musicians, artistic organizations and C-level business executives and entrepreneurs.
Dana is a conservatory trained cellist and former faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she earned a BM and MM in cello and chamber music performance. She earned a second masters degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in somatic psychotherapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies and is a licensed MFT in the states of CA and CT. She is a Master Certified Demartini Method® Facilitator, a distinction earned by less than 20 people around the globe. Additional certificates of learning were earned from Harvard Business School and Wharton Business School.
Her groundbreaking work has been a frontrunner in leading the performing arts to optimize talent, fulfill human potential and achieve peak performance through a whole-person and wellness focused approach. Her work successfully demonstrates that addressing health and wellness is not only for times of crisis and breakdown, but it actually optimizes performance.
She regularly presents for organizations including the Juilliard School, the United States Marine Band, San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Program, Chamber Music America, the American Association for Performing Arts Professionals, Red Oak Realty, Young Concert Artists, Concert Artists Guild, Yellow Barn, the Manhattan School of Music, Rice University, University of Houston and more. She has facilitated group trainings and faculty retreats for The Frost School of Music, CU Boulder’s School of Music, Colbert Artists and MKI Artists International.
She is the author of It’s Not (JUST) about the Gig: A Musician’s Guide to Creating the Mindset Which Leads to Career Success AND Fulfillment.
Teaching Philosophy
I believe self-awareness is the gateway to authenticity, talent fulfillment, and natural leadership. My teaching centers on helping individuals develop the skills of presence and awareness—not just as concepts, but as embodied practices that unlock adaptability, resilience, creativity, and innovation.
Change begins from the inside out. When we attune to our inner compass and align our actions with what’s true within us, we not only evolve personally—we become catalysts for change in those around us. I take a whole-person approach that honors both inner development and outer impact, guiding people to lead, create, and contribute from a place of coherence, clarity, and purpose.