As a child in Hawaii, Jake Taniguchi would go to classical concerts with his grandfather. The first orchestra he saw in concert was the Honolulu Symphony, led by then-principal conductor Andreas Delfs, who is currently music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Taniguchi is now a conductor himself, and having a bit of a full circle moment: beginning September 1, he’ll join the RPO as assistant conductor (working with Delfs) and as music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Taniguchi will also be down the street from another conductor he remembers watching in those early days, one who has since become a mentor to him: Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra music director JoAnn Falletta.
Growing up, Taniguchi was originally drawn to visual arts, but in middle school, all his friends were picking up instruments. He joined in by playing the bassoon, first in the school band and then, in an orchestra.
His experience in youth orchestra was “really special,” largely due to conductor Henry Miyamura, who was the music director of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony for 33 years.
“(He was) the music teacher of all music teachers and music students in Hawaii,” Taniguchi said.
Miyamura died last year, and Taniguchi was among many who mourned the beloved teacher and conductor. At the same time, he said he takes comfort in knowing he is “a part of his legacy in that youth orchestra, which was so strong and formative for me.”
Taniguchi went on to the prestigious Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a bassoon major. He was serious about music, but knew he ultimately wanted to do something besides playing bassoon. He found himself drawn to conducting, first taking classes as an undergraduate and then seeking out mentors like Thomas Wilkins. In addition to being professor of music in orchestral conducting at Indiana University, Wilkins is principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and music director laureate of the Omaha Symphony.
Taniguchi remembers an early lesson from Wilkins was the importance of a conductor’s role as a leader in the community.
“If you want to be a conductor, you are committing yourself today, right now, to devoting your life to studying,” he said.
Wilkins, for his part, had some initial reservations about Taniguchi.
“In the very beginning I thought, ‘I don’t see this,’” he said.
However, that quickly changed.
“He takes hold of every piece of information that you give him, both from a physical standpoint and a musical standpoint,” said Wilkins. “I mean, he just exploded, and the next thing I know, there’s this mature — still curious, still hungry — young man standing before me.”
Taniguchi’s studies took him to the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he served on the conducting faculty, and then back to Indiana University for his doctorate. He also returns regularly to Hawaii, conducting students of the Hawaiʻi Chamber Music Festival.
He’s a fan of Broadway musicals as well as opera (his dream conducting piece is George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris”), and had a chance to work with stage director Bartlett Sher and composer Mason Bates as part of a collaboration between IU and the Metropolitan Opera on the world premiere of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” based on Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
Now Taniguchi has landed in Rochester to assist the very conductor he saw in his first concert. Audiences at a few RPO shows this summer heard Taniguchi lead the orchestra at Ontario Beach Park and in Brockport. He conducted the RPO through hits by John Williams and Richard Rogers; music from “Pirates of the Caribbean”; and a work by contemporary Hawaiian composer Michael-Thomas Fomai, inspired by native Hawaiian people and their stories.
In his work with RPYO, Taniguchi expects to keep a mix of the classics with a few new discoveries for the students.
“I’ll make sure students in the youth orchestra get to sink their teeth into large-scale standard repertoire, while also introducing new pieces that are great vehicles for learning and teaching,” he said.
Along with the music, he knows there will be memories made along the way.
“I remember the little tour we did when I was in high school with our youth orchestra, every year was to a different Island in Hawaii,” he said. “This is an experience that I know will be so meaningful for our students.”
This February, the RPYO and Taniguchi will go on a European tour, performing in Prague, Salzburg and Vienna.
“I wrote them a letter at the beginning of the summer, right when I was announced as the new music director,” he said. “I told them that those experiences on tours, those late nights, will be memories they’ll keep with them forever.”
Mona Seghatoleslami is music director, host and producer on WXXI Classical 91.5 FM.
