“It’s a pretty unique story,” Fisher said. “My dad, Don Fisher, he’s a drummer and percussionist, one of his favorite bands is Dave Matthews Band. He was showing me the band, and he wanted me to be a drummer just like him, but all I could see was Boyd Tinsley shredding on the electric violin. Three-year-old me looked at the TV and said, ‘dad, I want to learn that.'”

“So, it didn’t really start out of a very classical music-driven passion. But I saw Boyd Tinsley, and decided I wanted to give it a try. And now here I am, 16 years later,” Fisher continued.

Michael is currently attending New England Conservatory of Music, where he is studying a bachelor of music in performance.

Fisher has seen his dedication pay off, as he performed as concertmaster, first chair violinist, with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, led by Maestro Benjamin Zander, during their recent tour of South Africa. The tour brought his love of Dave Matthews Band full circle, as the band’s namesake was himself born in Johannesburg.

“Right before I left, my dad was like, ‘you know what I just realized? That’s where Dave Matthews is from,'” Fisher said. “So yeah, this is pretty cool.”

Becoming the soloist for the tour came as a whirlwind for Fisher.

“I joined the orchestra, via audition, in September of last year,” Fisher states. “I started fourth violin, and slowly, throughout the year, worked my way up through the ranks. And, I wasn’t originally the soloist. We had played the big piece, ‘Ein Heldenleben’ by Strauss, and it’s claimed to be the most difficult concertmaster solo of classical music,” Fisher said. “They’ve done it in the fall with a different soloist, but this soloist was not able to join us on tour, so Maestro Zander reached out to me and asked if I would do it, and I told him I needed a couple of days to think about it, but I obviously ended up saying yes.”

The piece, completed in 1898, features a roughly 20 minute solo, which Fisher performed for three out of the seven concerts of the tour.

“To put it in perspective, this piece is very rarely played, so much so that we’re pretty sure it’s the first time it’s ever been played on the continent of Africa. Professional orchestras, like Berlin Philharmonic or New York or Philly don’t even really play this piece that often. So, for me personally, it was a really, really prestigious honor,” he said.

Looking back on his experience in South Africa, one moment stands out among many for Michael. “In South Africa, they have this thing called load shedding, where in the evening, every single night, the electricity would go out entirely, Fisher said. “We were in the Regina Mundi church, and we were playing Mahler’s ‘Second Symphony,’ which is nicknamed the resurrection symphony, so it has a lot of religious ties. When we got to the moment of the resurrection, towards the end, all the lights went out, and the audience went crazy. It was really surreal, I mean, who gets to say that they finished a Mahler symphony in the dark, you know? Then, right at the big climax of the piece, the lights came back on. It was a really special moment.”

The destitute conditions of the community surrounding the church made the event that much more special, Fisher said.

“It was amidst all the poverty, and so it made this moment really, really impactful. And I fully accept the fact that I will never hear reception of a performance quite like we did that night. The applause, the screaming, it was, it was surreal, and I will never be able to forget that. That was definitely the biggest highlight of the tour,” he said.

Hot off this tour, Fisher, turned his attention back to his hometown. On Saturday, Michael will hold a recital at the Trachte Music Center at Lycoming College. And, while this concert functions as a fundraiser to help him raise funds for a new violin, it is also a show of appreciation to the community that helped him get to where he is today.

“I view everyone’s support,” Fisher said. “Whether that be monetary, or emotional, whatever it may be, as an investment. I definitely feel a lot of responsibility to show that they’re getting a return on their investment. This is my opportunity to show all these people how much I’ve grown and all the experiences I’ve had in the last four years, how much I’ve learned. So, I just think this is an extreme privilege.”

Michael’s adulation for his community shines through in the preparation and theme of his upcoming show.

“This community has supported me so amazingly throughout the years, and I wouldn’t be here without their support. So this recital was really supposed to be an afternoon of appreciation. I am presenting this as an afternoon telling the story of love,” Fisher said. “Having been to South Africa and Europe, regardless of the language, the background, or income level, it (music) can bind people together. It (music) can bring us all together to share this one thing, and it touches people very, very differently. And I think that’s what’s so unique about it, it can be shared by everyone, but it affects everyone differently. So I thought to myself, what’s another thing that every human being on the planet can somewhat relate to? And that’s love. That’s in the romantic sense, or just human relationship.”

The recital also fulfills a graduation for Fisher, adding an extra layer of importance, as he explains, “In order to graduate from these big conservatories, so the best performers, young performers in the world, you got to give a graduation recital. Most people spend the entirety of that academic year practicing for their recital and it’s actually what I’m doing now giving a solo recital was a really big responsibility. Especially as a younger musician, most people never do it.”

Fisher, who will be returning to school for the fall semester, has no firm plans for the immediate future, but is forward thinking in his next endeavors, locally.

“I’m really hoping to make this a much more frequent thing, and not for my own benefit,” Fisher said. “I think it’s really important, especially in this area, to keep music alive, and to keep bringing people together, especially in such a segregated society that we’ve dealt with. So yeah, I will definitely look to continue finding opportunities to perform back at home and bring people together.”

Those interested in donating to Michael’s efforts can do so at his GoFundMe page, https://gofund.me/cdedef6d.

Michael Fisher’s Solo Violin Recital will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, at the Trachte Music Center at Lycoming College. For those unable to attend in person, the concert will be livestreamed at www.michaelfisherviolin.com.

For more information on Michael, please check out the above website, or any of his social media accounts at @michaelfisherviolin, or feel free to reach out to michaelfisherviolin@gmail.com.