23-05-2025
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Taichi Fukumura shares love for music
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — Taichi Fukumura's career is an example of musical dreams coming true.
'Music has been part of my life since as long as I could remember,' he said.
Fukumura started playing the violin when he was three, eventually working his way to his current position as the music director for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.
'Apparently I insisted and wanted to play since I was two and a half,' said the music director. 'I grew up in youth orchestra, playing symphonies as well as operas. I fell in love with the repertoire, the music that we play, the sounds of the instruments and how they all come together.'
Fukumura was born in Tokyo, Japan and came to the United States when he was one. As he grew up playing in a youth orchestra, he found the connection between a conductor and musicians intriguing.
'As a musician, formerly playing in the orchestra, I was fascinated by how we interacted with conductors,' Fukumura said. 'Because simple body language, facial expression, gestures or even just a few quick words in rehearsal could dramatically change how I play approaching this music. So, I thought that process and how it worked, that communication was really fascinating.'
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The music director said he has many reasons to love his job.
'The more I do it, the more I realize I love every part of it. Because it' is working with my colleagues on stage, making music together. It is programming. It is working with staff,' said Fukumura. 'It's getting to know our supporters and sharing what we do. Every part of it is very exciting and part of the passion of not just making music but bringing people on board and sharing what we do.
Fukumura is 32, having been conducting for half his life. And while he has achieved so much throughout his career he said there is still more to be done.
'I'm still going but it's a dream come true, really. It's very very exciting, to do what we do here at Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Programming here is a very collaborative process and we try to come up with something unique to our community here in Bloomington-Normal and Springfield,' he said. 'This is exactly what I always wanted to do, which is to share the love of music and to make an impact.'
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