Text Box: Dr. Contino studied at the Conservatoire Americain at Fontainebleau in France and remained, at the invitation of Nadia Boulanger, to pursue private studies with Mademoiselle for two more years. Shewas awarded the 1960 Premier Prix Hors Concours, cum laude from t the Conservatoire in conducting. Awarded master's and a doctor's degrees in conducting from Indiana University, Dr. Contino accepted the post of Director of Opera and Choral Activities at Bowling Green State University, OH, and gave performances with its Chorale in Jamaica, the West Indies, New York and Cleveland, as well as presenting the Bach St. John Passion in the Washington National Cathedral. Returning to Indiana University as a principal conductor and Chairman of the Choral Department, her other duties included directing the Symphony Orchestra, the Pro Arte Ensemble, which specialized in Renaissance and Baroque music, and conducting productions of the Indiana University Opera Theater. Fiora Contino has served as a guest conductor of opera productions and symphony concerts throughout the United States. She has directed many productions for the Memphis Opera, including a performance of Puccini's Turandot with Birgit Nilsson. Opera Magazine (England) reviewed one of her performances as follows: “The evening's heroine was Fiora Contino, who conducted with both authority and intelligent incisiveness, yet still with grace and charm, making her a rare musical phenomenon: a superb woman conductor. It was her masterful marshaling of all necessary forces that made this a rare, valued and memorable experience.” Text Box: Dr. Contino has been a regular conductor at the Temple University Music Festival in Ambler, Pennsylvania and Director of the Choral Institute at the world-famous Aspen Music Festival. Her performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Ambler Festival in July, 1973, with Dorothy Kirsten and members of the Pittsburgh Symphony and was greeted by the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin as “…magnificent, Moving and of the very first order. Fiora Contino towered over everything as the conductor and music director. She held everything together with a baton that was sharp and in clear control of a magnificently coordinated performance. Her presence would do honor to any opera house in the world.” Text Box: Other symphony orchestras playing under the baton of Fiora Contino include New Orleans, Hartford, Baltimore, Memphis, San Francisco and San Antonio. She was the subject of a PBS television hour-long special entitled More Music from Aspen. Dr. Contino was Director of Opera Illinois for nineteen years, has conducted performances for Teatro Grattacielo in New York, and served as one of the master conductors for the Chicago Choral/Orchestral Conducting Workshop sponsored by CHORUS AMERICA. She continues vocal coaching, offers residencies and conducts Master Classes in Conducting, Score Study, and Vocal Coaching.