The Illinois Symphony Orchestra is inviting audiences to celebrate Valentine’s weekend with Love Notes, a concert program centered on romance, intimacy, and emotional connection through music. The performances will take place February 13 in Springfield and February 14 in Bloomington, as discussed on Community Voices with ISO Music Director Taichi Fukumura.
The program opens with selections from Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town, a lively suite drawn from the iconic musical about three sailors on leave in New York City. The concert also features a rare double concerto for two saxophones by Paul Carr, performed by guest artists Valentin Kovalev and Aiwen Kovalev, a married couple who frequently perform together. According to Fukumura, the work is believed to be the only concerto written for two saxophones with orchestra and brings a joyful, lyrical energy well suited to the Valentine’s theme.
The evening concludes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, a cornerstone of the symphonic repertoire known for its sweeping melodies and emotional depth. Fukumura said the programming was designed to appeal both to longtime symphony patrons and to newcomers looking for an accessible and memorable first experience.
With the UIS Performing Arts Center closed, the Springfield performance will be held at First United Methodist Church, which the orchestra has adopted as a temporary home this season. The venue, Fukumura noted, offers warm acoustics and a more intimate audience experience. Tickets start at $30.
Transcripted by AI with human review for readability.
Randy Eccles:
This is Community Voices on NPR Illinois. I'm co-host Randy Eccles. We like to feature things that are going on in the community. You don't want to miss this event, it’s Love Notes from the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Taichi Fukumura has joined us. Tell us a little bit about the specific performance.
Taichi Fukumura:
Thanks for having me, Randy. It's so nice to chat with you and to share with everybody about this wonderful concert coming up, Love Notes. It's on Valentine's weekend, so how perfect is that? All three pieces are related to this theme.
First, we're starting off with three dance episodes from On the Town by Leonard Bernstein. This is about three sailors who have a day off and they're trying to pursue romance in New York City. It has all that dazzle and dizzy, quiet, intimate moments, saxophone, all that fun stuff.
Speaking of saxophone, this program features two saxophone guest artists, because we have a double concerto for two saxophones with orchestra by Paul Carr. Our guest artists are Valentin Kovalev and Awen Kovalev. She used to be Aiwen Chang, a married couple. They have a very cute daughter. They're both fantastic soloists who travel and play in different places. They also play in multiple saxophone ensembles. Sometimes they travel as a duet. That is the case this time. This is the only concerto for two saxophones and orchestra that exists. It's lovely to have them with us.
Randy Eccles:
Good on Valentine's Day to have a couple performing.
Taichi Fukumura:
It's so sweet. And his name is Valentin. I didn't even notice that part until our executive director, Trevor, pointed it out. I was like, "Oh, how perfect is that?"
Randy Eccles:
This is a rare two saxophone concerto piece?
Taichi Fukumura:
There are a bunch of saxophone concertos, but for two of them together, I haven't seen. The reason that I wanted to work with these two and was curious, is there anything out there? This is what we found. It's a very joyful, sweet piece.
Randy Eccles:
The concert is Feb. 13, the day before Valentine's Day in Springfield. Or if you for some reason need to work it out for Feb. 14, it's in Bloomington that you can see this performance.
Any specific recommendations for folks who are celebrating Valentine's Day, how they should approach this performance? It's a big date night, are there going to be roses available for somebody who's a little late getting organized for the date?
Taichi Fukumura:
The concert itself. It's going to be such a lovely journey to bring somebody along and to enjoy so much different music. The Bernstein, from the musical, it's a lot of great energy.
The second half, it's going to be one of the best symphonies written for orchestra by Tchaikovsky. It's Symphony No. 5.
One of the ideas behind this programming is we wanted to make sure this is an event where people who love going to the symphony orchestra have a great time, but people who may have never been to see classical music will have a fantastic evening. You have the fun and the dazzle, but also Tchaikovsky gives us some of the most heartwarming, in-depth music in the symphonic repertoire, and truly, truly romantic.
Randy Eccles:
With the UIS Performing Arts Center closed, where is this performance going to be?
Taichi Fukumura:
This whole season, we found a new temporary musical home. It's going to be at the First United Methodist Church. We've been enjoying it. First, there are lots of restaurants nearby. If people are looking to make a date night, they could go across the street and have a nice dinner before the concert. There's also good parking, which is always a plus. The venue works out very nicely for us. Not only does the orchestra physically fit on stage well, but acoustically, we've very much been enjoying this space this season. It's one of those churches where it does give the sound a nice little blossom. It adds a little warmth, but at the same time, it still leaves enough clarity. that you can enjoy and hear everything that's going on the stage.
Randy Eccles:
It's been amazing in the past, some of the different performances you've had in churches. You get a lovely sound out of most churches. There aren't a whole lot of places like the the UIS Performing Arts Center that work well for a larger orchestra. I'm glad you found a different location. Have people figured it out, knowing where to go this season as far as the performances go?
Taichi Fukumura:
I think so. There's a kind of energy among the audiences too. The concerts we've had there so far, people are really enjoying both acoustics, but also that feeling that we're in the same room together. Somehow when it's a big auditorium, it can feel a little far away. Even the furthest seats in the church, it does feel slightly more intimate than our typical full symphonic concert series.
Randy Eccles:
And intimate's good on Valentine's Day.
Taichi Fukumura:
Yes, very. You would hope.
Randy Eccles:
If somebody's going to Bloomington on Feb. 14, instead of Springfield Feb. 13, where is the performance in Bloomington?
Taichi Fukumura:
It's our typical venue at ISU, and that's also a very wonderful, warm venue. Either of these locations, it would be a really great time.
Randy Eccles:
In general, how are things going for the symphony so far this season?
Taichi Fukumura:
Fantastic. This is our second season together with me as music director. Every concert is the best we've had so far. That is an exciting time for any symphony orchestra. I feel very happy and excited to be part of the Illinois Symphony at this time. When there's such enthusiasm and growth going on among the musicians, of course, our audiences, there's a lot of new people trying out the symphony orchestra and starting to come back. It's a really, really nice time. If you haven't heard of us yet, come check it out.
Randy Eccles:
You really want things to grow and to adjust to the different times. Post-pandemic, so many folks have had a difficult time attracting folks to events. To hear that it's building and coming back is great.
Taichi Fukumura:
It's interesting you mention that because the pandemic has both been a challenge and opened a new opportunity for us. Because post-pandemic, a lot of people have had life changes. Sometimes they moved closer to family or even switched careers.
Then we had the music director’s transition where there was a couple of years search. There was no music director. By the time I came in, there were quite a few positions open in the orchestra, some of them key leadership positions. Within this first year and a half with the ISO, I've hired 24 new people. For a group of 70 or so musicians, its requires group dynamics or teamwork. That's a lot of people. We've been attracting some tremendously talented, exciting musicians. That's another factor why this orchestra has been growing. The mix of both the long-term, dedicated members who have played with us for a long time, and some new, exciting folks joining us.
Randy Eccles:
New blood is good, but maybe not one-third of the orchestra or so at a time, right?
Taichi Fukumura:
It hasn't all happened at once. We've had constant auditions going on. Every new person usually has prior commitments and doesn’t necessarily join us right away. As we go from concert to concert, we've been having a few new people joining, and that's been a really nice way to introduce new people.
Randy Eccles:
We've talked about this in the past on different interviews with the ISO on the air, but for those who are just tuning in and aren't that familiar, it is a professional orchestra. How does that work? Who can be in the orchestra? You talked about auditions and hiring people, is that how does the orchestra gets formed?
Taichi Fukumura:
It is a fully professional orchestra. Every member in the Illinois Symphony is a professional musician. We do national searches for every chair that you see in the orchestra. Somebody won an audition to sit in that chair. This happens through applications and resumes. After that, people fly in. Then we have multiple rounds of auditions for every individual chair. All of this happens behind a screen. We, actually me along with a panel of musicians who are on the audition committee, have no idea who's behind the screen. We don't know their names. We don't know their genders. We're not looking at the resume as we listen. It's purely based on their musical performance across multiple rounds. We try to get to know them as best as we can. We decide on whether we think this is the best performing musician and the one that we feel will fit well into the orchestra. Once we make that decision to offering this position, then we find out, “Oh, it's this person,” or “Oh, this is a new person that we don't know.” Either way, it's a very exciting moment when the screen comes down and we get to know each other from there on.
Randy Eccles:
Quite a few of the members of the orchestra are regionally based, or local to central Illinois. There are some who fly in just for these performances?
Taichi Fukumura:
That's right. We're geographically very lucky because there's huge music freelancing cities in very travelable distances, you have Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City, even Louisville. These are areas where a lot of our musicians come from, as well as local musicians.
Randy Eccles:
They might be part of several different orchestras?
Taichi Fukumura:
Oh, a lot of these freelance musicians play in many different orchestras. That's the way they make things work, because we are a fully professional, but not a full-time orchestra. So that means all our musicians go and play with other ensembles as well.
Randy Eccles:
Do these musicians make a living strictly from this? Or do they have day jobs, like so many musicians?
Taichi Fukumura:
Most of them are strictly professional musicians, so they make it happen by doing lots of different positions with different places. Some of them also teach on the side. That's one of those things that's mutual. Teaching makes you a better musician. Being an active professional musician makes you a better teacher. A rigorous performing career plus some of them also teaching.
Randy Eccles: Beth Wakefield is also with us. Beth, any thoughts, or comments?
Beth Wakefield:
Something that Tai Chi talked about on the Bernstein piece. Some of your listeners will appreciate that it's from an iconic movie. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra. You open this concert with something very iconic and known.
The saxophone concerto is amazing. It's sultry, it's rhythmic. It'll be a great evening out whether you're on a date or if you're looking for a Galentine's event.
Come one, come all. And this actual concert is a really great way to get introduced to classical music. Like if you don't know anything, that's okay. If you don't know any of the names that Taichi has used today, like Tchaikovsky it's okay, we don't mind. All we ask is that you come and be ready for an experience because Taichi, along with the orchestra, will take you on an amazing musical journey that night. It's powerful and inspiring. When the world around you is chaotic from work to everything that's going on, this is a great way to escape and have a wonderful experience. What's amazing about an orchestra experience is that it's a collective experience, but also, it's so unique and individual to you because you're the one who's sitting in that moment and interpreting that experience. Yet you get to have it with these amazing musicians on stage.
Randy Eccles:
I've taken my daughter when she was a little younger. It's an all-ages experience and you can see that in the audience too. There are students who are learning music themselves there and there are aficionados, and longtime retirees,who want to enjoy a performance. This is a great opportunity. Feb. 13.
Beth Wakefield:
Feb. 13, at First United Methodist Church in Springfield, Feb. 14, at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets start at $30.
Randy Eccles:
Taichi Fukumura and Beth Wakefield with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, thanks for joining us. Last thoughts?
Taichi Fukumura:
I couldn't have said it better than what Beth just said. Something I'll add as a performer is we feel the presence of the audience. How we perform from night to night varies. There's a lot of spontaneous moments. And we very much feel when an audience is responding. Those moments when a large number of people are in a room and there's that real quiet when people are really focusing. Those are some magical moments. We feel that on the stage. It does affect how we perform, so it really is a two-way St. experience. We can't wait to see you all there.
Randy Eccles:
Thank you so much for joining us today on Community Voices. Again, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra performing Feb. 13, in Springfield and Feb. 14, in Bloomington with Love Notes.
