Jake Taniguchi

Jake Taniguchi is a conductor and educator from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Currently, he serves as Associate Conductor and member of the conducting faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he leads the CIM Orchestra and New Music Ensemble. Taniguchi has served as principal conductor of the Hawaiʻi Chamber Music Festival, assistant and cover conductor for the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra, Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, and Northwestern University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Baroque Music Ensemble, and Opera Theater.

Taniguchi's guest conducting appearances include the Northwestern University Medical School Orchestra, Indiana University Symphonic and Concert Bands, Honolulu Wind Ensemble, and Hawaiʻi Youth Percussion Ensemble. He has collaborated with renowned conductors Leonard Slatkin, Dane Lam, and Anthony Parnther, as well as soloists including violinist Stefan Jackiw, pianists Sean Kennard and David Kaplan, clarinetist Yoonah Kim, and saxophonist Steven Banks. A fervent advocate for new music, he has fostered artistic partnerships with composers Marcos Balter, Sebastian Currier, Billy Childs, Keith Fitch, Christopher Cerrone, and Joan Tower, among others.

Taniguchi received his training from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. His conducting mentors include Arthur Fagen, Jeffery Meyer, Thomas Wilkins, Victor Yampolsky, and JoAnn Falletta. Currently, Taniguchi is pursuing a Doctor of Music in orchestral conducting at IU.