Following the retirement of Mr. Doug Bolasky, Southern Lehigh students and staff welcomed a brand new band and orchestra teacher, Mr. Larry Fisher.

“Everyone welcomed me with open arms,” Mr. Fisher said. “The students have been very receptive to the small little changes we’ve made here and there, the administration’s great, and working with Mr. Wehr is really fun.”

Mr. Fisher graduated from Susquehanna University in 2007 with a degree in music education. He taught seventh to twelfth grade band and orchestra at Line Mountain High School for eight years. Seeking a larger school district, he applied for the open position here at Southern Lehigh and was hired in July.  He is looking forward to a great year working with the students and staff.

“I’m excited to make something special happen here. I want to create an excitement and enthusiasm for the band and orchestra,” Mr. Fisher said. “I don’t care what kind of ratings the kids get at competitions; I just want them to feel good about their performance and feel like they did a good job.”

Before becoming a music teacher, Mr. Fisher used to be a martial arts instructor and camp counselor. In college, he played volleyball, soccer, football, and frisbee. He’s a big New York Jets fan and enjoys watching football, camping, running, and spending time with family.

When he’s not teaching music, Mr. Fisher spends much of his spare time performing music with many different jazz bands and orchestras, like the Williamsport Symphony. Professionally, he plays the clarinet and the saxophone, and even has a private saxophone studio.

Mr. Fisher listens to just about every genre of music, except for country and rap. Some of his favorite artists include Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, and Wynton Marsalis.

“Music is what I do,” he said. “I love performing, and I love teaching.”

However, Mr. Fisher didn’t always want to teach music.

“I didn’t want to become a teacher until my junior year in high school. I was that kid who always said, ‘I’ll be a firefighter, I’ll be a policeman.’ I had no idea what I wanted to do,” he said. “My high school band director was kind of the one who said, ‘Hey, you’re pretty good at this thing.’ She’s the one who put two and two together for me. And she was right.”

Growing up in Sparta, New Jersey, Mr. Fisher participated in band, choir, theater, and martial arts. His father was his biggest role model as a kid and still inspires him today.

Mr. Fisher is a huge fan of Star Wars, The Big Bang Theory, Marvel, and DC Comics.

“Captain America’s my idol. With a little bit of Robert Downey Jr.,” he said. “If Robert Downey Jr. played Captain America, that’d be freakin’ awesome.”