Taichi Fukumura leads the Illinois Symphony Orchestra during a previous appearance as guest conductor. Photo by Christine Call.
In Sunday’s (6/16) State Journal-Register, Steve Spearie writes, “Taichi Fukumura, the assistant conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra who has directed and worked with orchestras in Chicago, has been named music director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra … One of four finalists to succeed Kenneth Lam … Fukumura guest conducted the ISO’s … season-opening concert in October and the ‘Holiday Pops’ … concert in December. The selection as director, Fukumura [said], marked ‘a happy return (to Illinois)…. This is a very unique orchestra in that it has a very dynamic setup being a double-home orchestra, both in Springfield and Bloomington-Normal.’ In Chicago, Fukumura was the assistant conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Chicago Philharmonic, while directing two youth orchestras at the Merit School of Music. He also conducted the Northwestern Medical Orchestra … He will [guest-conduct] the Eugene (Ore.) Symphony, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic during the 2024-25 season. [He is] a native of Tokyo who grew up in Boston and started his musical studies on the violin at age 3 … Springfield concertgoers, he said, can expect a mixture of traditional works and newly written works or pieces the orchestra has never played before.”
