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
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 extensive international search. He begins his role in the 2024-2025 season as the fifth music director in the orchestra’s history.
Other highlights include his guest conducting debut with the Bamberg Symphony, and his return 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 Orchestra and Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and will guest conduct each during the 2024-2025 season. Additionally, he returned to the Aspen Music Festival and School as guest assistant conductor for the opening week of summer 2024. Other guest assisting engagements include collaborations with Barbara Hannigan and the Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland, as well as Dima Slobodeniouk and the Minnesota Orchestra.
Past engagements include guest conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky L’Histoire du Soldat. He was also invited by the Berlin Philharmonic as one of 10 assistant conductor candidates for Kirill Petrenko in 2021, and guest assisted the Houston Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. 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.
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 and led rehearsals of Puccini La Boheme with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the only youth orchestra in the country to present annual opera productions.
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 Aspen Music Festival and Pierre Monteux School and Festival.
