Meet the directors
Hannah Costa, High school band director
Hannah Costa is a member of the Flushing Music Department and serves as the Director of Bands at Flushing High School in Flushing, MI. Ms. Costa conducts the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Band, as well as both 5th and 6th grade woodwinds. In addition to her responsibilities of the aforementioned ensembles, she is also the director of the Flushing Raider Marching Band.
Ms. Costa hails from Belleville, MI, and is an alumna of Belleville High School and Central Michigan University. While at CMU, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and performed with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, and Community Orchestra. She was a member of the clarinet, composition, and percussion studios, studying with Dr. Kennen White, Dr. Jay Batzner, and Dr. Marco Schirripa, respectively.
As a composer, Ms. Costa has written several successful works since she began studying composition in 2021. She has been commissioned to write a clarinet quartet concerto titled FUSE, for the ARDEA Quartet and the Manistee Community Band, and Conversations, for two alto saxophones. Her first work for saxophone quartet, Abbraccio, was performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Biennial Conference in March 2023 by the Meraki Quartet. Her most recent work, Mythology, was commissioned by the Meraki Quartet and was premiered in 2024, and has since been commissioned by CMU’s Saxophone Professor, John Nichol, to adapt the work for saxophone ensemble, which will be premiered at the 2026 NASA Conference in at Ohio State University.
Ms. Costa joined the faculty in 2025 and is proud to carry on the tradition of excellence in instrumental music at Flushing High School.
Jonathan harrity, Director of orchestras
Mr. Jonathan Harrity is a music educator, clarinetist, and conductor based in Swartz Creek, Michigan. Currently in his third year as orchestra director for Flushing Community Schools, Mr. Harrity teaches four orchestra classes to grades four to twelve: beginning and advanced elementary orchestra classes, middle school orchestra, and high school orchestra. He also assistant directed the Flushing Raider Marching Band this past two years. Prior to teaching in Flushing, Mr. Harrity taught middle school orchestra in Rockford, Illinois (2022-2023), and served as a teaching assistant for both the orchestra and band programs at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, where he received Masters degrees in Instrumental Conducting and Clarinet Performance (2019-2022). He has undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, where he studied with Mr. Dan McKelway, assistant principal and E-flat clarinetist of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Mr. Harrity also maintains an active performing career, performing with the Genesee Wind Symphony for the past three years. He has performed as a featured clarinet soloist with the University of Michigan Flint’s Orchestra (2024), the Rockford (IL) Wind Ensemble (2023), and the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra (2022). In 2021, Mr. Harrity was selected as a clarinetist for the Kent Blossom Music Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, and performed alongside the musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Harrity has also performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY as a featured soloist twice: once with esteemed American composer Frank Ticheli conducting the Baldwin Wallace University Wind Ensemble performing Ticheli’s piece Blue Shades, and once performing the Poulenc Duet for Two Clarinets in Weill Recital Hall. Mr. Harrity infuses his joyful, fun-loving educational style and values with his extensive performing experience to create high quality, memorable musical performances with his students.
Eric Fontan, Middle School Band director
Eric Fontan received his masters of music in trumpet performance from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1993 and studied extensively with Armando Ghitalla (Principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra). While at the University of Michigan Fontan graduated magma cum laude and performed with the University Philharmonia Orchestra, University Symphony Orchestra, and the University Symphony Band under direction of H. Robert Reynolds. Before earning his masters degree, Eric received a bachelors degree in music education from Tennessee Technology University where he studied with Dr. Charles Decker. Fontan has also studied with Robert Weatherly of the St. Louis Symphony and Ralph Pottle of the Boston Pops.
After earning his bachelor degree Eric taught instrumental music in the public schools of Morgan and Rhea Counties in Tennessee. In Michigan, he has been an active music educator and has taught for over 30 years. He has maintained his current role as an instrumental music director for 28 years in the Flushing Community Schools where he is proud to have raised his family. Eric joined the Flint Symphony Orchestra as a contracted member in 1994 and has served with the FSO for 30 plus years. He has served on staff at the Flint Institute of Music as a private trumpet teacher. He has also maintained his own private trumpet studio and enjoys seeing young students find a love and passion for music. He has performed with the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Michigan Sinfonietta, the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra and the Midland Symphony Orchestra.
In his spare time he is an avid golfer and audiophile. He enjoys cooking, travel and all the amazing outdoor activities that Michigan offers.