MANSFIELD, PA— Mansfield University conferred its first Honorary Doctor of Music Degree upon renowned
Broadway musical director Rob Fisher on October 30. The ceremony took place during the annual Fall Choral Collage concert in Steadman Theatre.
MU President Fran Hendricks presented the diploma and read the accompanying citation.
“Mr. Fisher, as an internationally recognized music director, conductor, and pianist, you are a leading figure in American music and musical theatre. You have been the guest of nearly every major orchestra in the country as conductor or pianist, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston and Chicago Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and many others. For your work as the musical supervisor and vocal arranger for musicals such as Chicago, An American in Paris, Hair, and Anything Goes, you have received numerous awards and honors. As one of the founders of the New York City Center’s Encores! Series, you were instrumental in bringing the work of important composers and lyricists to the attention of a wider audience. Yo
ur leadership with the Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series and your role as musical director of Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company has brought you much deserved recognition and acclaim.
Four years ago, for the gala production of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall, you invited the women of the Mansfield University Concert Choir to sing as the Nuns’ Chorus, traveling personally to Mansfield prior to the show to work with our students in preparation for that extraordinary performance. For your generosity to our students and our Music program, we are deeply grateful.
Mr. Fisher, you are a musician of tremendous accomplishment and great distinction. In recognition of your outstanding achievements in music and musical theater, Mansfield University is proud to honor you with the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa. Congratulations to ‘Dr.’ Rob Fisher.”
Fisher is an internationally recognized music director, conductor, pianist and leading figure in American music and musical theatre. The University recognized him for his numerous accomplishments and his outstanding record of excellence in the field of music, and also for his special relationship with the MU Music Department.
Also during the concert, Fisher conducted his own arrangement of Bernstein’s House.