The Crescent welcomes Izumi Kimura for a 10-day Artist in Residency
Improvised Music Company and The Crescent Arts Centre are delighted to announce outstanding pianist and composer Izumi Kimura as their first musician in residence for the 2023 Navigator residency programme.
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We're delighted to partner with Improvised Music Company on this 10-day Navigator Jazz Residency programme which was established in 2021. Navigator offers jazz and improvising musicians professionally remunerated time and space to develop and perform work, while building creative and professional relationships in new locations.
IMC 30/30 artist Izumi Kimura is highly regarded as a “fearless improviser of the contemporary music landscape” (The Irish Times) and has performed extensively throughout the country and abroad since moving to Ireland from Japan in 1995. As well as excelling as a soloist, she has worked with some of the leading performers and ensembles from the disciplines of classical, jazz and improvised musics, including Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway, Stéphane Payen, and the National Symphony Orchestra, amongst others.
Izumi said “Thanks to IMC and The Crescent for this wonderful opportunity; I am very much looking forward to my time at The Crescent Arts Centre – my first time spending substantial time in Belfast – where I will explore the city's sounds and meet new people. I have the luxury of dedicating my time to exploring new places and people and eventually bringing all the experience into the music in solo and collaborative settings. For the Navigator residency, I am planning to focus on working and playing with ‘words’ through the lens of music in poems and poems in music. I also look forward to witnessing and being inspired by all of The Crescent's activities and getting to know the community of performers and improvisers at QUBe, a music collective based at SARC.”
Izumi is an IMC 30/30 artist, a platform and artist development programme supporting 30 of Ireland's finest improvisers over a year in celebration of 30 years of Improvised Music Company.
Sophie Hayles, The Crescent’s Chief Executive said: “We are excited to welcome Izumi: to Belfast, to The Crescent, and to the communities around us. This is our first time collaborating with IMC on the Navigator Residency, and it’s a pleasure to put Belfast on the residency map. We love being able to invite artists into the building in this way, and I’m sure we will learn a lot: from Izumi, from IMC and the conversations and work that develops along the way.”
The Navigator residency programme is part of IMC's commitment to further develop the national scene for jazz and improvised music, improve artist touring mobility, develop audiences nationwide, and develop creative opportunities and fruitful new relationships for musicians.
Creative Producer at IMC Aoife Concannon said “We’re very happy to connect such a high-calibre musician as Izumi with our new partners in Belfast, Crescent Arts Centre. Belfast has a thriving music scene and the potential for collaboration and all-island creative projects continues to grow”
The 2023 Navigator jazz residency programme has been expanded to 7 partners across the island of Ireland, with Garter Lane, Waterford, Riverbank Theatre, Newbridge and Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast joining the initial 4 other partners.
For more information about the Improvsed Music Company visit improvisedmusic.ie
For more information about Izumi and her work visit izumikimura.com
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