Holiday Pops in the Heartland
Show Times
- Date December 15th, 2023 Time 7:30pm Venue UIS Performing Arts Center - Springfield
- Date December 16th, 2023 Time 7:30pm Venue ISU Center for the Performing Arts - Normal
Celebrate the holidays with festive music! Holiday Pops in the Heartland is truly a community affair as the ISO is joined by the Bloomington-Normal Youth Symphony, Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras, Springfield Choral Society, and the Springfield Youth Performance Group. But that's not all! Soprano Megan Koch, IWU alumni, will dazzle us singing holiday favorites and more. It's fun for the entire family, young & old!
Taichi Fukumura, Conductor | Megan Koch, Soprano
Bloomington-Normal Youth Symphony | Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras
Springfield Choral Society | Springfield Youth Performance Group
Tickets: $66 / $44 / $22
Students (Age 24 & Under): $10
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Due to popular demand, there are 4 single seats available at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts in Normal. Please consider joining us for Holiday Pops in the Heartland on Friday at 7:30 PM at the UIS Performing Arts Center in Springfield.
Springfield
Friday, December 15, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
UIS Performing Arts Center
Bloomington-Normal
Saturday, December 16, 2023 @ 7:30 PM FOUR SINGLE SEATS REMAINING
ISU Center for the Performing Arts
Support Provided By:
The Landmark Automotive Group, Debra & Daniel Brownstone, M.D., US Bank, HSHS St. John’s Hospital, Roger Hunt
Springfield Venue UIS Performing Arts Center - Springfield
1 University Plz #397, Springfield, IL 62703
Your Illinois Symphony Orchestra performs Symphony Orchestra and Pops concerts at the UIS Performing Arts Center in Sangamon Auditorium.
Physical Address:
220 Ernest Hemingway Dr | Springfield, IL 62703
Mailing Address:
1 University Plaza, MS PAC 292 | Springfield, IL 62703
UIS Ticket Office Information
Tickets for all Illinois Symphony Orchestra season concerts are sold through the UIS Ticket Office. Tickets may be purchased by in-person, by phone, or online.
- In-Person: UIS Ticket Office is located in the lobby of the Public Affairs Center Building on the UIS Campus.
- Phone: (217) 206-6160
- Online: uispac.com
UIS Ticket Office Hours
Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: Closed
Performance Days: Opens Two Hours Prior to Performance
UIS Performing Arts Center Event Parking
Free parking is NOW available for all events held at UIS Performing Arts Center. Click here to view a map of the parking lots closest to the UIS Performing Arts Center. There will be no premium parking for donors who give $1,000 or more to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra due to UIS offering FREE parking to events held at the UIS Performing Arts Center.
Bloomington-Normal Venue ISU Center for the Performing Arts - Normal
400 W. Beaufort St, Normal, IL 61761
Your Illinois Symphony Orchestra performs Symphony Orchestra and Pops concerts at the Center for the Performing Arts located on the Illinois State University campus as part of a partnership with the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts and School of Music.
Physical Address:
400 W. Beaufort St. | Normal, IL 61761
Mailing Address:
Campus Box 5600 | Normal, IL 61790-5600
ISU CPA Ticket Office Information
Tickets for all Illinois Symphony Orchestra season concerts are sold through the ISU CPA Ticket Office. Tickets may be purchased by in-person, by phone, or online.
- In-Person: ISU CPA Ticket office is located in the lobby of the Center for the Performing Arts located on the ISU Campus
- Phone: (309) 438-2535
- Online: finearts.illinoisstate.edu/tickets/
ISU CPA Ticket Office Hours
Monday through Friday: Academic Year 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Summer 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: Closed
Performance Days: Opens Two Hours Prior to Performance
ISU CPA Ticket Office Parking
Two parking spaces located next to the CPA loading dock are reserved for patrons for business with the box office. These parking spaces are located off the corner of Beaufort and School Streets. A second option is to park in the University Street Parking Garage, an hourly pay lot. During non-performance times, there is no public parking in the School Street Parking Garage.
ISU CPA Event Parking
School Street Parking Garage
Free event parking is available in the School Street Parking Deck (400 S School St | Normal, IL 61761) for evening and weekend events. There is a sign located at the entrance labeled “Arts Event Parking” and states “Closed” or “Open.” When the “Open” sign is lit, enter and park in any spot numbered above spot 250 and below the blue parking zone near the top floor of the garage. Parking is not available on the ground level or top floor but is available everywhere between these two levels.
Premium parking for donors who give $1,000 or more to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra is coned off and available on the second level in the northwest corner near the elevator of the School Street Parking Garage.
School Street Garage
400 S School St | Normal, IL 61761
Directions
South University Street Parking Garage
Additional public parking is available at the South University Street Parking Garage (600 S University St, just north of Beaufort St.) at any time for $1.00 per hour.
South University Street Parking Garage
600 S University St | Normal, IL 61761
Directions
Featured:
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.
Conducted your Illinois Symphony Orchestra!
Fire & Fanfare
|
Friday, October 20, 2023 @ 7:30 PM | Saturday, October 21, 2023 @ 7:30 PM |
Holiday Pops in the Heartland
|
Friday, December 15, 2023 @ 7:30 PM | Saturday, December 16, 2023 @ 7:30 PM |
Megan Koch Soprano
Megan Koch, alumna of Illinois Wesleyan University, is an avid performer and teacher, currently based in Dallas Fort Worth (DFW). Last season, she made her role debuts as Violetta (La Traviata) and Berta (Il Barbiere Di Siviglia) at Shreveport Opera, and Nala, a cat (Meow and Forever) recorded for Opera Arlington and Really Spicy Opera. Formerly a Fort Worth Opera Resident Artist, she performed Annina in La Traviata, covered Ana Maria (world premiere, Zorro) and Musetta (La bohème), created her own indoor/outdoor production of “Manon on the Move”, based on the Massenet, and appeared on Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's televised concert, “America Strong”. Other operatic credits include appearances at the Olomouc Baroque Festival in the Czech Republic and Varna International in Bulgaria; Lucia di Lammermoor, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Vixen (Cunning Little Vixen), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Alexandra (Regina), Rose (Street Scene), and La princesse (L’enfant et les sortilèges). Megan won first place in the Classical Singer Voice Competition and was a finalist in the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Voice Competition in 2022. She has also performed with Lewisville Lake Symphony Chamber Recital Series and Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers, where she “shimmered with nuance” - The Column Online. She sits on the founding Board of Opera Arlington and returns to the Fort Worth Symphony to be featured in the 2023 “Home for the Holidays” concert.
