Tricks & Treats

Taichi Fukumura is the Music Director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra (ISO) and the current Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra appointed by Franz Welser-Möst. A rising Japanese American conductor acclaimed for his dynamic stage presence and musical finesse, Fukumura is the Second Prize Winner of The Mahler Competition 2023, and a four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

Recent and upcoming international engagements include guest conducting debuts with the Bamberg Symphony and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. Fukumura will lead concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra this season as part of his new position, including a collaboration with Itzhak Perlman on tour in Miami. He also returned to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as guest conductor, where he previously conducted over 110 concerts as an Assistant Conductor appointed by Robert Spano. Other recent guest debuts include the Utah Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Delaware Symphony, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

As the Music Director of the Illinois Symphony, Fukumura has led an ongoing initiative to broaden the repertoire of the orchestra. Focusing on well-balanced, impactful programming, he has highlighted the work of living composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Christopher Theofanidis, Stacy Garrop, and Gala Flagello. The 2025/26 season includes the world premiere of a new work by Michelle Isaac, commissioned by the ISO.

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. He also returned to the Aspen Music Festival as guest assistant conductor following a summer as a conducting fellow and was invited by Barbara Hannigan to assist at the Munich Philharmonic and the Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland.

Born in Tokyo, Taichi Fukumura spent his childhood in Boston and began music studies at age three on the violin. He holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Boston University, and both Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University under the mentorship of Victor Yampolsky. He is a recipient of the Concert Artists Guild Richard S. Weinert Award. Fukumura is fluent in both English and Japanese.

American violinist Claire Wells is emerging as one of the most exciting and original violinists of her generation. Recognized for her personal musical voice and vivid imagination, she captivates audiences as both a soloist and chamber musician.

Highlights of her upcoming 26-27 season include a lineup of orchestral engagements and recitals across Europe and the United States. Claire will make her Carnegie Hall recital debut in Weill Recital Hall, presented by Young Concert Artists, as well as her Washington, D.C. recital debut at The Phillips Collection. She will perform as a soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with both the Aiken Symphony and the Brevard Philharmonic, and Prokofi ev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, she will appear with Spain’s Orquestra Vigo 430 and on Germany’s Raderbergkonzert series. On the recital stage, her appearances include the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music, and the Kenwood Chamber Music Group, amongst others.

These engagements follow a vibrant 2026 summer season, including appearances at the Moritzburg Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, the Viridian Strings, and a return to Chamber music Northwest as a Protégé Spotlight artist.

In addition to winning the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, and First Prize and the Commission Prize at the 2021 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition, Claire has taken top accolades at major international events. These include Second Prize at the 2023 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, Third Prize at the 2025 Sibelius Competition, and Fourth Prize at the 2022 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Claire currently resides in Berlin and studies at the Kronberg Academy under Mihaela Martin, made possible by the Opel/Dr. Schaefer patronage.

Claire Wells appears by arrangement with Young Concert Artists, Inc.
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