Eric
Fisher
Submitted:
April 1, 2015
Awarded
: $
1100
Contact Information:
Eric
Fisher
729 W. Dixie St. #2
Bloomington
Indiana
47403
USA
713-252-2179
Reference 1:
Wendy Gillespie
Reference 2:
Brady Lanier
Summary of Submitted Materials:
Do not have any documentation.
Submitted Documents:
Submitted Recordings:
Committee Notes:
Project Description:
I am applying for a grant in order to help me purchase a bass viol bow. I currently do not own one and so have been borrowing a bow. The bow I will buy will depend on how much money I am able to get.
Request Amount:
$
1500
Total Project Cost:
$
Budget and Additional Funding:
Qualifications:
I am currently a doctoral viola da gamba student at Indiana University, studying with Wendy Gillespie. I play all sizes of viol, G and D violone , lirone, and vielle here at school.
Letter of Reference 1:
Reference from WENDY GILLESPIE
4/2/15
Dear Marie,
It is a great pleasure write in emphatic support of Eric Fisher's request for a Grant in Aid to buy a bow. Eric is a doctoral student in Early Music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington. He plays all sizes of viol, from treble to violone, vielle, and lirone. He acquired a lirone just this year and is making amazing progress on it, and his viol playing just gets better and better. He is currently building a violin and plans to build his own viols, and he is in the process of acquiring the skills necessary to maintain and repair instruments.
Eric's only viol is a 7-string Chinese bass; as a doctoral student he is doing the best he can, but finance is, needless to say, a serious impediment to his immediate needs for instruments and bows. We all know that a good bow makes all the difference, even to a less than ideal instrument, as the bow makes the instrument speak.
I cannot think of anyone more deserving of a GiA than Eric. He is already a valued member of the local viola da gamba community and there is not a shred of doubt that he will emerge as a very important member of the national community in the near future, both as a performer and a teacher.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance to Eric in his quest for some financial assistance from the VdGSA.
Best wishes,
Wendy
Letter of Reference 2:
Reference from: BRADY LANIER
IN PRAISE OF ERIC FISHER
By Brady Lanier
Eric Fisher is one of the hardest-working musicians I know. I have known Eric for close
to ten years. We first met playing together in the Symphony of Southeast Texas; I was
playing cello, he the bass. I was aware that he was an active pedagogue, teaching at
several local universities (and some not-so-local). He became interested in the viola da
gamba shortly after we met and joined the Houston chapter of the VdGSA (of which I
was president). We would chat about viol-related matters such as tuning systems
backstage during breaks from symphony rehearsals. Eric started participating actively in
Viols of Houston, serving for a while as VP of Outreach, and performed in chaptersponsored
consort concerts featuring Mary Springfels (who was our circuit rider teacher).
He became serious enough about the viol to uproot himself from his very active career in
Houston to pursue a doctorate in viola da gamba at Indiana University, studying with
Wendy Gillespie. I followed suit a year later.
Eric and I have now been studying side by side here at IU for two years. In that time, he
has astounded me with his work ethic, his musicianship, and his positive attitude. He has
risen to leadership positions, almost single-handedly reviving the dormant early music
student association (Gamma Ut) and becoming its president. Under his leadership,
Gamma Ut has produced a series of student-directed concerts, started a facebook page for
alumni of the IU early music department, and overhauled its own web page that is linked
to the Jacobs School of Music’s. Eric volunteers to play for a myriad of friends’ recitals,
donating his time cheerfully. He is possessed of a curious, inquisitive mind, both towards
musicology and a wide variety of crafts (bookbinding, paper marbling, violin making,
etc. etc.)
Eric works several jobs to be able to afford to be at IU, at the music library, teaching
online music classes, and even (briefly) at a local liquor store! He is also planning on
getting married in May, so I know that his funds are very tight – I don’t believe he
receives any scholarship from IU, so he is paying his own way, assuming debt, etc. As
we all know it is very difficult to afford to be a professional musician – equipment is
expensive, and money scarce. Eric is in need of a new bow to match the very fine
instrument he purchased last fall. It is my belief that he needs this bow to give him a
competitive edge in the market – it doesn’t matter how fine a musician you are, if you’re
performing on a substandard instrument it is impossible to make the sounds you want (or
that will get you hired).
I always enjoy playing with Eric because he is a solid, dependable musician with fine
musical instincts and a positive attitude. He is more than deserving to receive a grant-inaid
from the VdGSA – in fact, I can’t think of anyone who deserves one more. He will
make the society proud.