Three Appointments at Cleveland Orchestra’s Artistic Team

The Cleveland Orchestra has appointed three new members to its artistic and creative team. Beginning with the 2025–26 season, Taichi Fukumura joins the Cleveland Orchestra as assistant conductor, James Feddeck becomes principal conductor and musical advisor of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and Tyler Taylor becomes the Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow.

Taichi Fukumura is the music director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. He won second prize in the Mahler Competition 2023 and is a four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award. Recent and upcoming appearances include debuts with the Bamberg Symphony, Utah Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Delaware Symphony, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic. He recently returned to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as guest conductor after serving as assistant conductor and leading the orchestra in over 110 concerts. Other appearances include guest conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in their Community Chamber Concert series, and serving as assistant conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta, where he had been a Freeman Conducting Fellow. Born in Tokyo, Fukumura grew up in Boston and began music studies at age 3 on the violin. He holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Boston University, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University. Additional training includes the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Pierre Monteux School and Festival.

James Feddeck previously served as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) from 2009 to 2013. Until last season, he was principal conductor of Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan. He has appeared with European orchestras including the Vienna Radio Symphony; the national orchestras of France, Belgium, Ireland, and Scotland; orchestras in Britain (BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra); and the symphony orchestras of cities throughout Europe. He has also conducted orchestras in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Taiwan. In North America, he has led the major orchestras of Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Montreal, San Francisco, Seattle, and Toronto. He has nurtured the musical interests of young people at music festivals and orchestral training programs in the U.S. Feddeck is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied in four programs: oboe, organ, piano, and conducting. He received the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award as well as the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Oberlin.

Tyler Taylor joins the Cleveland Orchestra as composer fellow for a term of three years, beginning with performances of his Permissions this fall. He succeeds Composer Fellow Allison Loggins-Hull. In the 2026–27 season, Taylor will compose a new orchestral work for the Cleveland Orchestra; in his final season, he will write a score for COYO. Taylor’s honors include awards and residencies at the San Francisco Symphony, Copland House, I-Park Foundation, and Louisville Orchestra. He founded and teaches at the Louisville Orchestra’s Young Composer Program, where public-school students have their pieces workshopped and performed by members of the Louisville Orchestra. He teaches composition and horn at the Louisville Academy of Music while maintaining a private studio. He has been commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Washington and Lee State University, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Indiana University New Music Ensemble, Indiana Bandmasters Association, and the National Orchestral Institute. Taylor holds degrees from Indiana University (Doctor of Music with minors in music theory and horn performance), the Eastman School of Music (Master of Music), and the University of Louisville (Bachelor of Music).