Ficher came from an artistic family settled in Odessa. He graduated from the Imperial Conservatoire in Saint Petersburg and became the concertmaster of the Orchestra of the Imperial Opera. His early attempts at composing music date from that period. In 1919 he emigrated to Poland, and in 1923 – to South America with all his family. He settled in Buenos Aires, where he initially earned money by giving performances, but soon focused mainly on composition. He joined the circle of young composers who in 1929 formed Grupo Renovación, which was a leading promoter of new musical trends in Argentina. In 1933, in Amsterdam, it was incorporated into the ISCM as the Argentine Section.
Grupo Renovación was also co-founded by José María Castro, Honorio Siccardi, Luis Gianneo, and Juan Carlos Paz, with whom Koffler maintained a correspondence-based acquaintance.
As a composer with a Jewish-Russian background, Ficher combined modern soundworld with tunes from his homeland. With time, he developed a fascination for Argentinian folk music, which he transformed in his works.
On 16 August 1937, Koffler (who had been considering emigration for some time) wrote an extensive letter to Ficher, presenting himself and his achievements and inquiring about the formal aspects of the planned resettlement. Ficher’s reply is unfortunately unknown, and Koffler eventually stayed in Lwów. All the same, his correspondence with an influential Argentinian composer proves that Koffler considered Buenos Aires as a suitable place to continue his artistic career, which (he was convinced) was largely hindered in Poland. Though this is not mentioned in the surviving letter to Ficher, it is possible that Koffler’s emigration plan was related to the deteriorating situation of Jewish musicians in Europe after 1933.