Kenneth Fischer bio
Kenneth Fischer was born northeast of Detroit in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, September 17, 1951. He passed away December 8, 2009, in Athens, Georgia. He and his wife Joan had two children, Stephen and Jennifer. Ken received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in 1973 and, from Indiana University the master’s and doctoral degrees in 1975 and 1985. He studied with Eugene Rousseau at IU and studied with Jack Kripl and Eliane Zajac at Michigan State University and with Larry Teal while in high school.
He was Professor of Saxophone at Central Missouri State University from 1975 to 1979 and the University of Georgia from 1979 until his death. While at the University of Georgia, he also served Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Music.
Ken was one of the first student performers at a World Saxophone Congress, appearing at the Third Congress, held in Toronto in 1972. He performed at several subsequent Congresses, including those in Evanston, Nuremberg, Pesaro, Valencia, Montreal, Minneapolis, and Ljubljana, He was a member of the Comité International de Saxophone from 1985 to 1992, serving as President from 1985 to 1988.
Ken also was a frequent soloist and clinician at North American Saxophone Alliance regional events and Biennial Conferences. He served NASA as President from 1984 to 1986. Other performances include the U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium and the Music Educators National Conference. He was the recipient of a Soloist Recording Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the production of a digital compact disc recording of original works for the saxophone. In addition, he was a juror for NASA’s Classical Saxophone Competition and represented the United States as a member of the jury of the First Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition in Dinant, Belgium, and the Comité d'Honneur for the Concours International Jean-Marie Londeix.
He presented master classes throughout the United States and at the Brussels, Prague, and Pardubice Conservatories in Europe, the Sichuan Conservatory in China, and the University of Montreal and the University of Victoria in Canada.
Compositions were written for him by numerous composers, including Bruno Amato, Tommy Joe Anderson, Howard Buss, Michael Colgrass, William Davis, Jindřich Feld, Frederick Fox, John Harbison, Robert Linn, Lewis Nielson, Juan Orrego-Salas, Gunther Schuller, Greg Steinke, Fisher Tull, and Roger Vogel.
His students competed in the Music Teachers National Association Competition, the 1995 Geneva Concours, and the Second Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition. Many of them now hold important saxophone professorships throughout the country and will continue his legacy.
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