Deborah Fleisher, a longtime former harp instructor at the Frost School of Music who forged an outstanding career as an artist and educator, passed away late last month at the age of 70.
A third-generation musician from an extraordinary musical family, Fleisher was the eldest of five children of famed pianist Leon Fleisher. Her grandfather was Louis Druzinsky, principal second violin with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and her uncle Edward Druzinsky was a principal harpist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Deborah’s brother Dickie is the principal harpist for the Naples Philharmonic, and her brother Julian is a jazz and pop singer and songwriter. Deborah Fleisher studied at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and earned an Artist’s Diploma at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
A longtime Miami resident, Fleisher was a member of the South Florida chapter of the American Federation of Musicians from 1972. She joined the Frost School faculty in 2008, where she taught for several years as an undergraduate instructor and dissertation advisor. Deborah served on the Contemporary Music Selection Committee for the USA Harp Competition and judged and coached for the Miami-based foundation.
Her performing career spanned classical and pop music and Broadway. Fleisher held principal positions with the Baltimore Opera, Delaware Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Boca Raton Symphonia, Orchestra Miami, and for many years with the Miami City Ballet. She played with an extraordinary range of musical greats, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, Renee Fleming, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Michael Feinstein. Additionally, Fleisher played in orchestras of the musicals “The King and I,” with Yul Brynner; “Hello Dolly,” with Carol Channing, as well as “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Evita,” “A Chorus Line,” and “My Fair Lady.”
Deborah Fleisher is survived by her daughter Lena, her mother Dorothy Druzinsky, her siblings Dickie, Leah, Paula, and Julian, and her nephew Harry.
