Taichi Fukumura Debuts as Music Director of your Illinois Symphony Orchestra

Get ready for an unforgettable night as we enthusiastically welcome our new Music Director, Taichi Fukumura, opening night of our 32nd season of acclaimed music-making! Festive Fanfare promises to be a sensational celebration brimming with surprises, passion, and world-class artistry that you won't want to miss! Feel the exhilarating energy Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue, followed by the brilliance of Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto, featuring the phenomenal Braimah Kanneh-Mason on violin. And just when you think it can’t get any better, let the stunning beauty of Dvořák's Eighth Symphony sweep you away. Join us as we embark on a vibrant new journey that will leave you inspired and eager for more!
 
Listen LIVE! Feel the Music! Join us at 7:30 PM on Friday, October 18, 2024, at the UIS Performing Arts Center in Springfield, Illinois and Saturday, October 19, 2024, at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts in Normal, Illinois. Please join us one hour prior to the concert for Concert Comments, a special pre-concert discussion that will take you, the listener, inside the music.
 
Get your seats now! Season and single tickets on sale NOW. Tickets may be purchased in Springfield through the UIS Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 or in Bloomington-Normal through the ISU Center for the Performing Arts at (309) 438-2535. You can also order tickets online at ilsymphony.org/fanfare. Single ticket prices range from $10 for students (24 & under) to $65 for premium seating. First-Time season ticket offer is still available, and we offer a variety of packages to fit your interests, schedule, and lifestyle. Season ticket information available at ilsymphony.org/seasontickets.
 
Festive Fanfare is sponsored by season sponsors The Landmark Automotive Group and Debra & Daniel Brownstone, M.D., concert sponsors Terry Huff and Carole & Jerry Ringer, guest artist sponsors Louise F. & Laurin A. Wollan Endowed Fund, Joan & Charles Vanden Eynden, Jerry & Carole Ringer, F. Lucille Foster, Trevor & Liz Orthmann, and music sponsors Debbie & Jim Ringer.
 
Braimah Kanneh-Mason is a dynamic and versatile young violinist. He has performed throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and the Australia. Recently, Braimah has appeared as a soloist with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Bath Philharmonia and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
 
An avid chamber musician, Braimah is a member of the Kanneh-Mason Piano Trio, Festival Academy Budapest Ensemble and Kaleidoscope Collective. He has performed at venues and festivals such as the BBC Proms, London’s Wigmore Hall, London’s Barbican Hall, Melbourne Symphony Hall, Highgate International Chamber Music Festival, Leicester International Chamber Music Festival and collaborated with artists such as Nicola Benedetti, Tom Poster and Priya Mitchell.
 
Through playing and presenting, Braimah has been featured in an episode of the BBC series, ‘In the Studio’, and has co-presented a radio program for Classic FM and recorded as a soloist for BBC Radio 3.
 
Taichi Fukumura is a rising Japanese-American conductor acclaimed for his dynamic stage presence and musical finesse. He is the Second Prize Winner of The Mahler Competition 2023 and a four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award 2021-2024.
 
Fukumura was recently named Music Director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, following two guest conducting appearances as part of an extensive international search. He begins his role in the 2024-2025 season as the fifth music director in the orchestra’s history.
 
The Illinois Symphony Orchestra (ISO), led by Music Director Taichi Fukumura, is central Illinois’ largest professional orchestra serving over 35,000 patrons in the communities of Bloomington-Normal, Springfield and the surrounding region with symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, and Concerts for Kids series in each community. In addition to concert performances, the Orchestra's music education and outreach programs serve pre-K and elementary schools through the Itsy Arts and Music Matters education programs and reach middle schools, high schools, universities, community organizations and senior centers through guest artist residencies and musician and ensemble performances. The ISO also has an active Sips & Sounds Summer Concert Series, Around the Town Chamber Music Series and the Beyond the Stage concert experience. The Illinois Symphony Orchestra has a budget of approximately $1.4 million.
 
In July 2020, the ISO acquired the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony (SVYS) started in the early 1970s by parents, music teachers and musicians to keep string instrument education and a youth orchestra in Springfield and surrounding communities following the elimination of all school orchestra programs. Now, the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras (ISYO) programs consist of Starter and Junior Strings, Preparatory Orchestra, Concert Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra serving over 300 students. The ISO also has a partnership in education and community engagement (PEACE) with the UIS-School of Music and Illinois State University’s Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts and School of Music.