Finding Validation, Stability, and a Musical Home: Samantha Donato Reflects on the Hartford Symphony Fellowship

For bassist Samantha Donato, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra Fellowship marked an important transition—not because it changed what she wanted to do, but because it confirmed that the career she had been working toward was within reach.

Looking back at the beginning of the fellowship, she says the biggest change has been both personal and professional.

“I feel like I’ve made it, in a way,” she says. “Not to say that I’m this big celebrity superstar, but because I can get the ‘bread-and-butter’ things that I wanted out of life. I wanted to be able to pay my bills just through music and not really worry about where my next gig is.”

Today, she’s fully out of school and supporting herself through music. “I get to work purely doing what I like to do,” she says. “That’s my biggest musical and personal shift” since entering the program.

The fellowship didn’t provide a single life-changing moment so much as a series of experiences that gradually reinforced she was where she belonged. But one memory stands out. At the conclusion of her final concert as a fellow, Donato was thinking, ‘I have to find a way back here,’ she recalls. “I want to find my way back to the HSO.”

That feeling had grown over two years of rehearsals and performances with the same ensemble. The fellowship gave her the opportunity to become part of an artistic community. “It’s nice to be in a place for more than just a one- or two-day gig,” she says.

That continuity also gave her an education that extends well beyond performing. Because she remained with one orchestra over two seasons, Donato gained insight into how a professional orchestra functions behind the scenes. She observed how musicians, staff, and committees work together, learned about the role of the musicians’ union, and saw firsthand the systems that support a professional ensemble.

The fellowship also helped her understand what a sustainable career in music can look like. Like many young musicians, Donato began by balancing freelance opportunities with part-time work outside of music—at Wholefood in her case—occasionally having to pass on performance opportunities for the sake of her part-time job.

Just as importantly, the fellowship opened doors beyond Hartford. Having the Hartford Symphony Orchestra on her résumé led other orchestras to take notice. Now, she gets to play with orchestras on the basis of her resume alone. “Having orchestras like Hartford on my résumé validated me, and I started getting calls. Now, I’m sub lists for multiple orchestras in and around the Boston area where I live.”

When asked whether the fellowship changed her goals, Donato says it actually reinforced them. Ever since middle school, she wanted to perform in a major symphony orchestra. Throughout high school, college, and graduate school, she heard that many music students eventually pursue other careers—in administration or similar, for example. But Samantha never lost sight of her goal, and the HSO Fellowship helped confirm that she was on the right path.

“To actually do it and live it… it just guaranteed that, yeah, this is what I want to do,” she says.

She recognizes that she benefited from scholarships and family support throughout her musical education, but she also knows many talented musicians don’t have the same opportunities. “There is definitely a cost barrier, in my opinion, to get into classical music,” she says. Without the financial wherewithal, it’s significantly harder to break in. Donor-funded pathways may not be the only way forward, but they often make critical opportunities possible. Donors “make everything tangible,” she says. Their funding “really makes dreams and opportunities tangible.”

Programs like the Hartford Symphony Fellowship help bridge that gap. For Donato, that is the lasting impact of donor support: “They make it happen,” she says. “They open the door for all of us.”