NAVIGATOR Artist in Residence Izumi Kimura announced for Crescent Arts Centre

Izumi Kimura has performed extensively throughout the country and abroad since moving to Ireland from Japan in 1995. 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.

“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 Kimura

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.

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.

Three of the residencies are programmed from IMC’s 30/30 programme and the other four residencies by an open call.

Further NAVIGATOR artist residencies will be announced in due course.

Izumi’s website: izumikimura.com
Crescent Arts Centre: crescentarts.org