Holiday Pops in the Heartland

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Date December 16th, 2023 Time 7:30pm Venue ISU Center for the Performing Arts - Normal

Celebrate the holidays with festive music and holiday songs. Holiday Pops in the Heartland is truly a community affair as the ISO is joined by the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras, Springfield Choral Society, and the Springfield Youth Performance Group. Great fun for the entire family, young & old!

Taichi Fukumura, Conductor

Tickets: $66 / $44 / $22
Students (Age 24 & Under): $10

Springfield

Friday, December 15, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
UIS Performing Arts Center

Bloomington-Normal

Saturday, December 16, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
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

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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

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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.