Our Conductor
Kimo Furumoto
Kimo Furumoto, widely known for his innovative concert programming, has been named Conductor and Music Director of the Rio Hondo Symphony beginning with the upcoming 77th season.
Furumoto is the conductor and music director of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra in West Virginia. During the last nine years under his baton, the orchestra has enjoyed record attendance. Furumoto also serves as Associate Professor at California State University, Fullerton where he is music director of the university’s orchestra and opera theater.During his career Furumoto has served as assistant conductor of the Lyric Mountain Festival for the Performing Arts and of the Lexington Philharmonic. Guest conductor appearances include numerous regional orchestras, including the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Central Ohio Symphony and River Cities Symphony. He made his international conducting debut with the Kurpfalzisches Kammerorchester of Mannheim, Germany.
Previously Furumoto served as orchestra director on the faculties of Ohio University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His numerous appearances include conducting a concert at the critically acclaimed Mass-in-Concert series at New York’s Lincoln Concert for the Performing Arts.
After interning as conducting assistant with the Cincinnati Symphony in 1988, Furumoto returned as guest assistant conductor. He has also served as associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra and of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra with Keith Lockhart.
He holds conducting degrees from Chapman University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
The enclosed audio file of Kimo Furumoto's preview was recorded on Friday Morning, October 2, 2009.
Beethoven Project to Span Nine Concert Seasons
In keeping with Conductor Kimo Furumoto's Beethoven Project (which began last season), the orchestra will perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 at the September 26, 2010 concert. One symphony will be played each season, ending with a performance of the Ninth Symphony in 2017-2018.
The project will take the audiences on a journey of discovery into the heart and mind of Beethoven, one of the greatest music geniuses of all time. He altered the course of music forever; nearly 200 years later his music astounds and inspires everyone.
Each episode in the series highlights one of Beethoven's monumental symphonies as related to his personal life and his indelible impact on the course of music history.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 last season was:
Episode 1: "The Early Years - Imitator or Innovator?"
This season it is:
Episode 2: "Heiligenstadt - Art, Death and Deafness:
Triumph over Despair"
Future seasons:
- No. 3: "The Spirit of the Napoleonic Age" - 2011-2012
- No. 4: "Friends, Family and Music" - 2012-2013
- No. 5: "Fate Knocking at the Door" - 2013-2014
- No. 6: "Getting Away from it All" - 2014-2015
- No. 7: "Love and the Dance of Life" - 2015-2016
- No. 8: "Modern Marvels - The Metronome" - 2016-2017
- No. 9: "Conversations with the Sublime" - 2017-2018