Russell Fisher is a percussionist and educator. As an emerging voice in the contemporary music landscape, Russell has commissioned new works for many mediums.
As a chamber musician, Russell has been featured in the Yale Percussion Group, the Yale In New York Concert Series at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Bound Series, the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, and the Oneppo Chamber Music Series at the Yale School of Music.
As a soloist, Russell has performed concerti with the New Conductors Orchestra, NYU Symphony Orchestra, Greater Bridgeport Youth Symphony, and NYU Chamber Music Ensemble. Additionally, he has given recitals and masterclasses around the country, most notably at the Curtis Institute of Music and New York University.
Russell is an active member of the booming steel pan scene. He has performed in Panorama competitions with both Crossfire Steel Orchestra and CASYM Steel Orchestra. It has been his personal mission to continue to commission and perform new works for steel pan. Most recently, Russell commissioned three composers: Liam Teague, Sophia Jani, and Soomin Kim, to write solos for double seconds. In 2022 he also founded UB Steel at the University of Bridgeport.
As an educator, Fisher currently serves as Associate Department Chair of Music, Assistant Professor of Music, and Director of Ensembles at the University of Bridgeport. As an active teaching artist in the northeast, Fisher has worked in the New Haven Public Schools, Queensbury Public Schools, Yellow Barn “Music Haul,” Margret Brown Elementary School in Baltimore, and Celia Cruz High School in the Bronx.
Russell has earned a Master of Musical Arts Degree from the Yale School of Music, a Master of Music Degree from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from New York University. Currently, he is a Doctorate of Musical Arts Candidate at the Yale School of Music expected to finish in the spring of 2026.