Christian singer returns to Barstow

BARSTOW • Jessica Fisher left Barstow in 2009 as Barstow Community College’s valedictorian. This weekend, she returns as a Christian musician with her first record contract.

Fisher lived in Barstow for two years while attending the college. The child of a military family, she grew up all over the country, she said.

Looking back, Fisher said she remembers her time in Barstow fondly. It was where she began to sing in church and college choirs. She also sang the national anthem at college basketball games.

“Barstow was a critical stepping stone; a needed stepping stone in the music ministry,” Fisher said.

After graduation, she moved to Virginia and then to Arizona, where she lives now, and married her husband, Samuel Cyiza, who also sings Christian music and will share the stage with Fisher this weekend.

Fisher is studying to earn a bachelor’s degree in social psychology as part of an online program through Park University.

Fisher said her first big break was meeting Lila Cervantes, another Christian artist who recorded her debut album “I Can See” in 2008. Cervantes helped her land her first record contract with Tate Music Group to record her first album, “New Life.”

Fisher described her music as contemporary with a Celtic influence.

“It’s very easy listening music, with very meaningful lyrics,” she said.

Fisher’s two concerts will benefit Adventist Frontier Missions, an organization that sends Adventist Christian missionaries to foreign countries.

IF YOU GO
Christian music concert
When: Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Where: Barstow Bilingual Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1060 Monterey Ave. (Friday), Barstow Seventh-day Adventist Church, 750 Broadway Ave. (Saturday)

CONTACT THE WRITER:
(760) 256-4126 or spearson@desertdispatch.com