Concert Chats with Taichi Fukumura

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Date October 18th, 2023 Time 11:00am Venue Bloomington Country Club

Adventure awaits with your Illinois Symphony Orchestra! This season your Illinois Symphony Orchestra will be led by FOUR distinguished guest conductors vying to be our next Music Director. It's YOUR turn to be part of the ISO's legacy and help us select our next Music Director.

Get to know conductor candidate Taichi Fukumura while enjoying a delectable lunch with other music enthusiasts at Concert Chats, a special lunchtime series, hosted by the Illinois Symphony Guild of Bloomington-Normal.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023 @ 11:00 AM

Bloomington Country Club

$30 per person, includes lunch and tea, coffee, or soda

Schedule

Social time @ 11:00 AM
Lunch served @ 11:30 AM
Program starts @ 12:00 PM

Reservations are due by Friday, October 13, 2023. Make your reservation today. Reservations may be made online or by contacting Guild member, Debi Grossman by phone at (309) 830-2276 or by email dwgross1@hotmail.com.

Support Provided By:

Illinois Symphony Guild of Bloomington-Normal

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Taichi Fukumura Conductor

Taichi Fukumura is a rising Japanese-American conductor acclaimed for his dynamic stage presence and musical finesse. Currently serving as the Assistant Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra appointed by Music Director Robert Spano, Fukumura is the Second Prize Winner of The Mahler Competition 2023 with the Bamberg Symphony and a three-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Fukumura was recently named Music Director Finalist of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and is engaged to guest conduct the ISO on two programs in the upcoming 2023-2024 season. Other recent highlights include guest conducting the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and guest assisting the Houston Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was also invited by the Berlin Philharmonic as one of 10 assistant conductor candidates for Kirill Petrenko.

Past engagements include guest conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in their Community Chamber Concert series, leading Stravinsky L’Histoire du Soldat. Fukumura served as the Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta where he previously received mentorship from Music Director Mei-Ann Chen as a Freeman Conducting Fellow. Additionally, he worked closely with the Chicago Philharmonic as cover conductor, assisting Artistic Director Scott Speck and many guest artists.

Equally adept in opera conducting, Fukumura conducted full productions of Britten Turn of the Screw and Mozart Don Giovanni at the Northwestern University Opera Theatre and led rehearsals of Puccini La Boheme with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the only youth orchestra in the country to present annual opera productions.

Born in Tokyo, Taichi Fukumura grew up in Boston and began music studies at age three on the violin. Professionally trained on the instrument, he received a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Boston University, studying with Peter Zazofsky. Fukumura received both his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University, studying with Victor Yampolsky. Additional conducting studies include Aspen Music Festival and Pierre Monteux School and Festival.