Serenade of Strings
Show Times
- Date April 4th, 2025 Time 7:30pm Venue First Presbyterian Church - Springfield
- Date April 5th, 2025 Time 7:30pm Venue Second Presbyterian Church - Bloomington
Be moved by the intimacy of our Chamber Orchestra performances!
Taichi Fukumura, Music Director
Akutagawa Tryptique for Strings – Still Danzes de Panama – Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings
Listen LIVE with us!
General Admission: $30
Students (Age 24 & Under): $10
Springfield
Friday, April 4, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
First Presbyterian Church
Coda Conversations will immediately follow
Bloomington-Normal
Saturday, April 5, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
Second Presbyterian Church
Coda Conversations will immediately follow
Discover the Music
Support Provided By:
Debra & Daniel Brownstone, M.D., The Landmark Automotive Group, Kathryn Ransom
Springfield Venue First Presbyterian Church - Springfield
321 S. 7th St., Springfield, IL 62701
Your Illinois Symphony Orchestra performs Chamber Orchestra concerts at the First Presbyterian Church. Tickets for Chamber Orchestra concerts may be purchased through the UIS Ticket Office or at First Presbyterian Church prior to the performance.
Physical Address:
321 S 7th | Springfield, IL 62701
Ticket Office Information
UIS Ticket Office
Tickets for all Illinois Symphony Orchestra season concerts are sold through the UIS Ticket Office. Tickets may be purchased by in-person, by phone, or online.
- In-Person: UIS Ticket Office is located in the lobby of the Public Affairs Center Building on the UIS Campus.
- Phone: (217) 206-6160
- Online: uispac.com
UIS Ticket Office Hours:
Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: Closed
First Presbyterian Church
Tickets may be purchased at First Presbyterian Church one hour prior to the performance.
Parking
Navigate the downtown area with this parking list.
- FREE street parking surrounding First Presbyterian Church.
- FREE parking available in Grace Lutheran Church’s lot (located at the corner of 7th & Capitol Avenue)
- FREE parking available in the Bus Lot at Lincoln's Home (Immediately south of Grace Lutheran Church on 7th Street)
- FREE parking available in the City Garage at 801 E. Capitol (between Library and Firehouse) after 6:00 PM
- Springfield Downtown Parking Garage | $3 after 1 pm on Fridays, Cash & Card accepted, Located 6th & Capitol
Arrival Information: For driving directions and parking Information, please click here. Seating is general admission, and you are welcome to arrive thirty minutes prior to the event to select your seats for the concert.
Bloomington-Normal Venue Second Presbyterian Church - Bloomington
404 N Prairie St, Bloomington, IL 61701
Your Illinois Symphony Orchestra performs Chamber Orchestra concerts at the Second Presbyterian Church. Tickets for Chamber Orchestra concerts may be purchased through the ISU Center for the Performing Arts Ticket Office or at Second Presbyterian Church prior to the performance.
Physical Address:
404 N Prairie St | Bloomington, IL 61701
Ticket Office Information
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/
Second Presbyterian Church
Tickets may be purchased at Second Presbyterian Church one hour prior to the performance.
Parking
Free parking is available off of North Prairie Street and East Jefferson Street.
Featured:
Taichi Fukumura Music Director - Music Director
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 international search. He begins his role in the 24/25 season as the fifth music director in the orchestra’s history.
Other 24/25 highlights include guest conducting debut with the Bamberg Symphony, and returning to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as guest conductor after leading the orchestra in over 110 concerts as Assistant Conductor appointed by Music Director Robert Spano. Fukumura is also Music Director Finalist of the Eugene Symphony, Delaware Symphony, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and will guest conduct each during the 24/25 season. Additionally, he will return to the Aspen Music Festival as guest assistant conductor for the opening week of summer 2024.
Past engagements include guest conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in their Community Chamber Concert series, leading Stravinsky L’Histoire du Soldat. He made his international guest conducting debut with the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and guest assisted 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 and the Siemens Conductors Scholarship in 2021. Active as both conductor and assistant, Fukumura has worked with esteemed artists such as Edo de Waart, Juraj Valčuha, and Dame Jane Glover, as well as Thomas Hampson, Yefim Bronfman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gil Shaham.
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. As Staff Conductor at Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (the only youth orchestra in the country to present annual opera productions), he led rehearsals of many monumental works including Puccini La Boheme.
Fiercely advocating to bring people together around the spirit of live music, Fukumura led many new initiatives with the Fort Worth Symphony including the first major update in their education and community programs in over a decade. An avid educator, he has previously served as Director of Orchestras at the Merit School of Music in Chicago and directed the endowed Northwestern Medical Orchestra to national acclaim within their first four years. Fukumura was appointed by the Mayor to the Evanston Arts Council for his cultural leadership and fresh perspectives, where he collaborated with local artists and arts organizations to enrich lives and amplify previously unheard voices.
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 the Aspen Music Festival Conducting Fellowship with Robert Spano, the Freeman Conducting Fellowship with Mei-Ann Chen and the Chicago Sinfonietta, mentorship in Paris with Pierre-Michel Durand and l’Orchestre Prométhée, the Hong Kong International Conducting Workshops with Jorma Panula, Christoph Poppen, and Yip Wing-sie, and the Pierre Monteux School and Festival with the late Michael Jinbo. Taichi Fukumura is fluent in English and Japanese.
Updated May 30, 2024
