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A 2021 graduate, Fishman was a gifted saxophonist and composer. On Sept. 12, his fraternity brothers at Alpha Kappa Sigma will throw a live music event to raise money for a scholarship in his name.
In February 2023, Ellesse Cooper proposed to Matt Fishman. They had been together since meeting on their first day on Northeastern University’s Boston campus in 2017.
“We met in the music and arts living learning community in Kerr Hall,” Cooper says. “Five months later, we were dating.”
For five years, the pair almost never spent a day apart in Boston. They moved into a Jamaica Plain apartment together during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; Cooper still lives there. They took trips out of the city to go birdwatching and frequented the Boston Symphony Orchestra, using the discount their student IDs afforded them well past graduation. A gifted musician, Fishman could compose on the fly when they played music together, him on his saxophone and Cooper singing or on clarinet. She taught him to play the ukulele.
At Northeastern, Fishman played water polo, served as an RA and was president of the wind ensemble, composing original pieces for the group’s performances. He graduated in 2021 with a degree in music and math.
“He was the kindest, brightest person in the room,” Cooper says. “He was a good listener, invested in what you had to say. He made me feel like my thoughts were important. We were going to spend whatever life we had together.”
But at their engagement, they already knew that life would be short. The summer before, in 2022, Fishman began having debilitating migraines. An X-ray revealed a golf ball-sized tumor in the middle of his brain; soon, he was diagnosed with Grade IV glioblastoma, among the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. “It’s not something you cure or beat,” Cooper says.
Fishman died on Aug. 22 of this year. He was 25. And as his loved ones face fresh grief, members of the Northeastern community have found a way to honor his memory in a tangible, highly Matt-specific way.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, Fishman’s brothers in the Alpha Kappa Sigma campus fraternity will hold an event fundraiser for the Matt Fishman Scholarship. Held at the Alibi Bar & Lounge at 215 Charles St. in Boston, just off the Boston Common, the 2024 AKS Boiler Room for Cancer Awareness will feature a rotating set of DJs spinning techno music for a multi-stage dance party and donated local beer on tap. The event can hold 600 guests, and organizers are hoping to raise $20,000 for the scholarship, awarded annually to student musicians facing medical hardship.
“He was a brother, and we’re very set on making sure we can have an impact,” says Gencay Padir, a third-year business major, AKS’ philanthropy chair and the president of Northeastern’s Interfraternity Council. “It’s a cause that hits home for a lot of us.”
For Boiler Room, AKS is partnering with the RACE Cancer Foundation, a Boston-area nonprofit that organizes races and fundraising events for cancer-related causes. RACE Cancer founder and president Alain Ferry became close with Fishman about eight months after he received his terminal diagnosis. They met at the Boston Calling music festival; Fishman, coming off major brain surgery, was in a wheelchair.
“Unfortunately I didn’t know Matt without a brain tumor and a death sentence,” Ferry says. “But ultimately, the Matt that I knew was an incredibly vibrant, really optimistic young man.”
The spring before Fishman’s passing, Ferry began talking with him, his parents and Cooper about starting a Matt Fishman Memorial Scholarship fund, an idea they loved. Initially, Ferry floated a narrow scope for the award.
“I said ‘Let’s have it be a scholarship for a student saxophonist who’s been impacted by cancer.’ [But] he wanted it to be any musical performer or composer with any medical hardship — he wanted a broad-based award to really advance the arts. That’s who Matt was.”
Giving a financial boost to help recipients feel freer to pursue their musical dreams was especially important to Fishman, Cooper says. The son of Russian immigrants living in Brooklyn, Fishman paid his own way through college via a combination of merit scholarships, need-based financial aid and student loans.
“He couldn’t decide if he wanted to do math or music,” she remembers. “He wanted to be a composer, but thought he should study math to pay off his loans quicker. He hoped a scholarship would inspire people to do the less practical thing, to follow their passions and create.”
The first recipient will be announced later this year; in the future, Ferry hopes the fund can grow to allow for two winners annually.
To that end, proceeds from all tickets ($15) for Thursday’s event will go toward the scholarship. Alpha Kappa Sigma already had been planning a Boiler Room event for the fall when they heard about Fishman’s illness, but the cause aligned perfectly with their broader goals for their Boiler Room fundraisers. (This is the fraternity’s second; last year’s was in support of Boston Children’s Hospital.)
“We knew Matt was battling brain cancer at the time, and after the first [Boiler Room] we had a lot of alumni reach out and say that we should do one in honor of him,” Padir says.
Along with Ferry, who has provided logistical guidance and support, the AKS organizers think the event complements the mission of the scholarship fund beautifully.
“The music aspect of this is such an important thing,” says Zack Nepomnayshy, a fourth-year biochemistry major and AKS’ head of risk. “Even if you’re not a musician, many people recognize the ability of music to fill your spirits, give you inspiration, give you strength. That’s part of the reason the Boiler Room format is so great. It’s about everyone together, listening to music, supporting each other.”
For her part, Cooper hopes any remembrance of Fishman will be centered around that type of joy. “Matt was just such a positive light and absolutely loved life,” she says. “He didn’t take it for granted. It’s cheesy as all hell but it’s true and important.”
The couple squeezed all they could out of the time they had left — eating at Michelin-starred restaurants, watching for Bobolinks on nearby Belle Isle, and going to every live music event Fishman was physically well enough to attend.
“It’s entirely altered my perspective in the last two years,” she says. “We loved living like old people and having that appreciation for the world around us. And I think that’s how I want people to remember Matt. Do the things you want. Don’t just do your 9 to 5 and get through each day. You have to live.”