Ivana Fišer

Who was Ivana Fišer?

Ivana Fišer was known Croatian Jewish conductor.

Fišer was born in Zagreb on June 13, 1905 to a Jewish family of well-known Croatian architect Ignjat Fischer and his wife Helena. She attended elmentary and music school in Zagreb. Fišer graduated from the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb under Fran Lhotka as the first female conductor in Croatia. Soon after she left for Salzburg where she was perfecting herself at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. From 1931 to 1934, Fišer worked as violinist at the Croatian Music Institute orchestra. As a conductor, Fišer debuted in 1933 while directing the comic opera Bastien und Bastienne with Zagreb philharmonic orchestra. From 1939 to 1941, she led the Zagreb Red Cross orchestra. Until 1941, she also led the Osijek philharmonic orchestra. From 1947 to 1965, Fišer worked as a prompter at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.