Ken Fisher was born in Santa Monica, CA and raised in the Los Angeles area. He holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Clarinet/Saxophone Performance and Master of Music degree in Bassoon Performance, both from UCLA.
After graduating, Ken spent 13 years on the road: a summer at EPCOT with the Disney-Grammy Jazz Band, a year touring with the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, four years in the Showband with Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Lines, and seven years living in Mexico as a member of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in Guadalajara and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Sinaloa in Culiacán. In addition to his full time orchestra duties, he performed in the pit orchestras of the Kirov Ballet, Royal London Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, and the Camerata de las Américas, as well as show orchestras backing up the likes of Banda el Recodo, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, and Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano. With other like-minded members of the Sinaloa Symphony, Fisher founded the Cuarteto Extremo, a group which has won grants for cultural advancement at the state and national level, toured extensively in Mexico and California and continues to promote their unique brand of original compositions and arrangements, all by young Mexican composers.
Since returning to Los Angeles in 2008, Ken has re-immersed himself in the local free-lance scene, as a woodwind doubler specializing in the low reeds. He has participated in hundreds of recording sessions for all types of media, having recorded at the prominent LA studios including Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony, Paramount, Universal, Sunset Sound, EastWest, The Village, and Capitol. He has performed at the major LA venues including Disney Hall, Dorothy Chandler, the Dolby, the Pantages, the Ahmanson, the Segerstrom, Broad Stage, Royce Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl. He has over 50 Broadway Musical productions to his credit, most recently the national tours of Hello Dolly! and Phantom of the Opera. Very involved in the local Big Band scene on baritone saxophone, he has performed with over 30 LA bands, including Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, John Daversa Progressive Big Band, Brent Fischer Big Band, Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra, Les Hooper Big Band, Budman/Levy Orchestra, and the Tim Davies Big Band.
Deeply committed to music education in underserved areas, Ken Fisher has been involved with Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) since its inception, first as Program Manager, then Woodwind Teaching Artist at the EXPO Center and annual YOLA Camp in Idyllwild. He also designed and taught Symphony 101, a bilingual Music Appreciation class for the parents of the YOLA @ EXPO participants. While living in Mexico, he taught at the music schools in Guadalajara, Mazatlán, and Culiacán, and worked regularly with the students from Centro de Artes Musicales in Tijuana, Baja California.
In addition to performing and teaching, Ken has maintained a parallel career as a contractor and event producer. He served as House Manager of the Jazz Bakery 1998-99, Orchestra Manager for the Henry Mancini Institute Summer Festival 2004-2006, Stage Manager for Jacaranda 2010-2012, Teaching Assistant/Manager for the UCLA Wind Ensemble 2011-2013, and since 2015 has been the Assistant/Associate Director of the UCLA Bruin Marching and Varsity Bands, in charge of producing the Band’s 100+ annual performances.
