// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Akiko Fujimoto a conductor? She's a maestro of her own fate.
Akiko Fujimoto | |
|---|---|
| Born | Japan  |
| Education | Stanford University, Boston University, Eastman School of Music |
| Occupation | Conductor |
| Employer | |
| Website | akikofujimoto |
Akiko Fujimoto is a Japanese-born American conductor. Since 2019 she has been the music director of the Mid-Texas Symphony, and in 2026 she was appointed as the music director of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.[1] She has held positions as associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony, conducting associate for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and cover conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has appeared as a guest conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vermont Symphony Orchestra.[2][3][4][5] Fujimoto became the first woman to hold a full-time conducting position on the artistic staff of the San Antonio Symphony when she was hired as its assistant conductor in 2011.[6] In 2017, she became the second woman to conduct the Minnesota Orchestra.[7] In 2019, Fujimoto became the first woman conductor for the Mid-Texas Symphony.[4]
Personal life
[edit]Fujimoto was born in Japan.[4] When she was 14, she moved with her parents to the United States because her father was relocated by the company he worked for.[4][8]
Education
[edit]Fujimoto earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology and Music at Stanford University.[4][6] She later went on to earn her Master's degrees in choral and orchestral conducting from Eastman School of Music in 1999 and Boston University in 2001.[9][6]
Career
[edit]Fujimoto worked under JoAnn Falletta when Falletta was the music director for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.[8]
From 2012 to 2017, Fujimoto was the associate conductor of the San Antonio Symphony and its first woman conductor.[7][4]
She worked for the Minnesota Orchestra as an associate conductor from 2017 to 2020.[4][10]
On September 15, 2019, Fujimoto had her first public concert with the Mid-Texas Symphony at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin as a guest conductor.[3][11] In October 2019, she was hired to be the Mid-Texas Symphony as their next music director,[4][3] a position she still holds as of 2024.[12]
In 2021, Fujimoto was one of seven candidates who applied to lead Vermont Symphony Orchestra.[5][13] She was a guest conductor on October 30, 2021, where she closed the Vermont Symphony Orchestra program with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 and Suad Bushnaq’s “Sampson’s Walk on Air.”[14][5]
References
[edit]- ↑ SoNA Names Akiko Fujimoto as New Music Director. Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, May 29, 2026. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
- ↑ Akikio Fujimoto, conductor. Bio. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- 1 2 3 Woolfe, Zachary (June 4, 2021). "Want More Diverse Conductors? Orchestras Should Look to Assistants". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gazette, Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin (May 24, 2019). "Symphony waves in new music director". Seguin Gazette. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- 1 2 3 Writer, Jim Lowe Staff (October 23, 2021). "Akiko Fujimoto tries VSO reins: First of 7 music director candidates". Rutland Herald. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Fujimoto Blazes a Symphonic Trail in San Antonio". Reporting Texas. December 13, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- 1 2 "Comings and goings at the Ordway, Minnesota Orchestra, ACC and Mia". MinnPost. May 18, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- 1 2 Tribune, Terry Blain Special to the Star (April 29, 2020). "Coronavirus took her big moment, but conductor says Minnesota Orchestra will 'come roaring back'". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Some Eastman Conducting Graduates and Where They Are Now". Conducting & Ensembles. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Minnesota Orchestra to resume playing Aug. 3; 'Art Connects Us' billboards offer hope and thanks". MinnPost. April 16, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Akiko Fujimoto Is Back In South Texas... Kind Of". TPR. June 26, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Mid-Texas' Season Opener A Showcase For Whole Orchestra". TPR. September 10, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Timeline: A conversation with Akiko Fujimoto". Vermont Public Radio. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ↑ Writer, Jim Lowe Staff (November 2021). "Music Review: First VSO candidate excels in Beethoven". Times Argus. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
External links
[edit]- Akiko Fujimoto's personal website