Taichi Fukumura

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 2024-25 season as the fifth music director in the orchestra’s history.

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 and Music Director Mei-Ann Chen. Additionally, he worked closely with the Chicago Philharmonic as cover conductor. Equally adept in opera conducting, Fukumura conducted full productions of Britten’s Turn of the Screw and Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Northwestern University Opera Theatre and led rehearsals of Puccini’s 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 violin studies at age three. 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.

Randall Goosby

“For me, personally, music has been a way to inspire others.” Randall Goosby’s own words sum up perfectly his commitment to being an artist who makes a difference. Signed exclusively to Decca Classics in 2020 at the age of 24, American violinist Randall Goosby is acclaimed for the sensitivity and intensity of his musicianship alongside his determination to make music more inclusive and accessible, as well as bringing the music of under-represented composers to light.

During 2023-24, Goosby was Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre which included a return to the London Philharmonic Orchestra. There, he performed Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3 under the direction of Gemma New and featured both recital and chamber concerts. Other recent and upcoming recital appearances included Chamber Music Cincinnati, Emory University in Georgia, Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall in Hamburg, Perth Concert Hall in Scotland and La Società dei Concerti in Milan. Randall Goosby was First Prize Winner in the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 2019, he was named the inaugural Robey Artist by Young Classical Artists Trust in partnership with Music Masters in London; and in 2020 he became an Ambassador for Music Masters, a role that sees him mentoring and inspiring students in schools around the United Kingdom.

Goosby is deeply passionate about inspiring and serving others through education, social engagement and outreach activities. He has enjoyed working with non-profit organizations such as the Opportunity Music Project and Concerts in Motion in New York City, as well as participating in community engagement programs for schools, hospitals and assisted living facilities across the United States.

In 2022-23 Goosby hosted a residency with the Iris Collective in Memphis with pianist Zhu Wang. Together they explored how the students’ family history can relate to music and building community collaboration through narrative and performances. A former student of Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho, he received his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Artist Diploma degrees from the Juilliard School. He is an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program and studied previously with Philippe Quint. He plays the Antonio Stradivarius, Cremona, “ex-Strauss,” 1708 on generous loan from Samsung Foundation of Culture.