ABOUT kira
A sudden flicker of light. A bright beam cutting through years of darkness. A veil is torn. The blind can see. For Kira Fontana, creating music has always been spiritual. A songwriter from childhood, then classically trained pianist and composer at the world-renowned Eastman School of Music and Yale University, Kira's personal mentors included legendary classical composers Steve Reich and John Adams, as well as Oscar-nominee David Lang, and Pulitzer prize winners Christopher Rouse and Steven Stucky. Her award-winning music has been performed by some of the top classical musicians in the world, including members of New York's acclaimed ensembles Alarm Will Sound and So Percussion. After studying music composition on the East Coast, Kira moved to Los Angeles to begin her music career. She ended up one of the top vocal coaches in the city, coaching major label artists and hit TV shows GLEE and The Voice.
​
Discouraged with what she saw in the music industry and finding no suitable niche for her own music, she eventually stopped songwriting and singing... a devestating outcome after a lifetime for pursuing music. In 2015, she composed the film score for breakout hit film Kedi, called "a mesmerizing score" by the New York Times. But her passion for songwriting had not diminished, and it was a largely barren time.
But at the end of 2017, something changed. Kira had been “spiritual, but not religious” for many years, but several members of her immediate family became Christians. Her mom began encouraging Kira to pray to “see truth.” After months of praying this simple prayer, Kira began to see the evil and darkness that was surrounding her. “I finally saw the world, and the extreme darkness, for what it was instead of what I wanted it to be, and I began to see the need for truth in my spiritual walk, which led me to Jesus,” she said.
​
After a year of intense introspection, Kira gave her life to Jesus but was still unsettled. “It was not a comfortable conversion, it was radical,” she said. “Everything I had believed for so many years in the new age world had died.” She had come to the end of herself and remembers praying one night in desperation, “God, why did you even make me?”
​
That very night, she woke from a dream at 3am with a song flashing through her head. She got up, sat down at the piano, and recorded the chorus melody to “Refuge”. Kira didn’t know it at the time, but this was God’s answer. From from that day forward, God began to pour out songs – and she knew He was saying, “I made you to worship Me.”
Her debut worship album titled ​Refuge ​is a set of spiritual warfare songs. These melodies that came from dreams, were filled with words of God's triumph over her battles.
​
Kira’s songs are prayers to the God who saved her and gave her new life, and proof that the blind still regain their sight. God is still calling people out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. He is their refuge and there is peace in His arms.
​
Listen to Refuge now on all streaming platforms. To date, it has garnered over 1 million streams on Spotify, and over 400,000 views on YouTube.
​
