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Marcia Janet Fisher

Contributed report
Aspen CO, Colorado

Marcia Fisher, a long-time local cellist and music educator, succumbed to a life-long cardiac condition and died in her sleep on Sept. 7, 2008.

Born in Detroit to Moses and Mildred Fisher on Sept. 18, 1952, Marcia attended the Detroit public school system and early on showed an extraordinary aptitude for music. She chose the cello as her instrument and that choice led to a lifelong love affair.

She earned her Bachelors degree in cello performance from Wayne State University in Michigan and went on to earn two masters degrees in performance; one from Rice University and the other from Southern Methodist University, both in Texas.



She honed her tutorial skills by taking intensive Suzuki Method teacher training and worked for many years with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as a principal instructor in their inner city youth program.

Most recently she has taught at the Waldorf School in Carbondale, Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs, and in the Aspen School District as part of the Lincoln Center Programs.




While playing for many orchestras and chamber music groups throughout her long career she spent a total of 11 years in residence in Germany and Austria and became fluent in German as her second language. While residing in Bavaria, Marcia was also a principal player for the American Institute of Musical Studies at their Summer Festivals in Regensberg, Austria.

On this side of the Atlantic she played with, among others, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana, the Carrolton Chamber Orchestra and the Garland/ Los Colinas Orchestra in Dallas, the Scandinavian Symphony Orchestra, and the Michigan Chamber Orchestra in Detroit. In addition, she played with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario.

Marcia fell in love with the Roaring Fork Valley in the 1990s and settled here for good in 1999, quickly enriching our community with her multi-faceted talent. She played with the Aspen Choral Society Orchestra, the Symphony in the Valley, Theater Aspen, the Aspen Community Theater, various programs at the Aspen and Snowmass Chapels, and she performed at weddings too numerous to count.

Like most of her fellow musicians, she had to keep up her “day jobs” in order to make ends meet at the end of the month. She was a great massage therapist and a founding member of the Aspen Massage Associates and will be sorely missed by her good friend and massage mentor, Dennis Tuma. An accomplished middle-eastern “belly” dancer she enjoyed performing and teaching the art to ladies throughout the valley, most notably forming a long-standing friendship with local dance diva Leah Stein. Most recently she worked with her good friends at Atlantic Aviation keeping the “Aspen Air Force” flying on time.

A longtime student of Tibetan Buddhism Marcia was always generous with her time and talents when a group of touring monks or a senior Dharma teacher came to town. This summer she got to attend the Aspen Institute program with His Holiness The Dalai Lama and remarked, just weeks before her passing, that it was the high point of her spiritual journey in this life.

She is survived by her sister Michelle Fisher-Mallory, brothers Eric M. Fisher, Micheal D. Fisher, Marcus B. Fisher and various nieces and nephews all residing in the Detroit area.

Her many friends would like to celebrate this fruitful life that was dedicated to enriching the lives of others by presenting a Musical Tribute Concert and performing her favorite classical compositions. Everyone is welcome to join the festivities and The Aspen Chapel at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5. A reception will follow the concert and donations of flowers and food will be most welcome.

Donations in Marcia’s memory can be made to The Roaring Fork Friends of Tibet, PO Box 278 Woody Creek, CO 81656. For information on memorial service, call (970) 923-4090.

A memorial website has been set up at http://www.sukhavati.dharmaplanet.net/ marcia_fisher

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