Izumi Kimura (born 10 March 1973) is a Japanese pianist and teacher now living in Ireland.Kimura, Izumi. "Interview: Questions and Answers." Email, 28 October 2018. Kimura currently teaches at the Dublin City University in jazz and contemporary music studies. As a performer and composer, she has been associated with contemporary music and is perhaps best known for her 2010 debut album Asymmetry.Kimura, Izumi. Asymmetry. 2010.
Biography Izumi Kimura was born in Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Japan in 1973. She studied music and specifically the piano from an early age. Kimura attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music with Akikio Teranishi, Akira Miyoshi and Kazuoki Fujii. After graduating in 1995, she sought to explore music outside the classical realm and moved to Ireland, where she studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with Ray Keary.Creative About Music, "Izumi Kimura." Accessed October, 2018. http://www.improvisedmusic.ie/artists/details/izumi-kimura
Career Izumi Kimura is an acclaimed practitioner of contemporary piano music, improviser, composer, and educator. Her music is influenced by her connections to Japan and Ireland.
Kimura is an active performer as a soloist and collaborator in contemporary and jazz/improvisation genres. As a soloist she played many festivals such as Music Curren Festivalt, Galway Jazz Festival,The Contemporary Music Centre Ireland, "Music Current 2018: Izumi Kimura, Prepared Piano." Access October, 208. https://www.cmc.ie/events/2018/apr/music-current-2018-izumi-kimura-prepared-piano she has broadcast on RTÉ lyric FM, performed with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.Galway Jazz Festival, "Izumi Kimura Interview Galway Jazz Festival 8 Oct 2016." YouTube video file. October, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIWZS2aJrAA Many of Kimura’s solo works are recorded on albums such as A Dream Within a Dream (2016),Kimura, Izumi. A Dream Within a Dream. 689232111410. 2016. Refrains (2012), A Dream and Variations (2012), and Asymmetry (2010).Kimura, Izumi, "Izumi Kimura." Accessed October, 2018. http://www.izumikimura.com
Her debut album Asymmetry was released on Diatribe Records and combines works by contemporary Japanese and Irish composers, including Mamoru Fujieda, Takashi Yoshimatsu, Toshinao Sato, Greg Caffrey, Ronan Guilfoyle and Gerald Barry. The critic Karishmeh Felfeli described the album as "one of the most original, creative and stimulating recordings of 2010 to be heard on an Irish label, an absolute revelation". The critic of the Irish Times agreed: "heroic levels of technical fearlessness, stamina and strength in a programme dominated by flying, rumbling bass lines, hard-driven rhythms and counter-rhythms, and thousands upon thousands of notes – she also created a breathing, slow-burn climax – with a more reflective, often intimate style of playing".
Kimura has performed with the Crash Ensemble, an Irish ensemble specialising in contemporary classical music,The Contemporary Music Centre Ireland, "Interview with Izumi Kimura and Ronan Guilfoyle." YouTube video file. October, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZheX1nUFwM as well as collaborated with musicians and composers such as Julian Arguelles, Sarah Buechi, Greg Caffrey, Benjamin Dwyer, Mamoru Fujieda, Ronan Guilfoyle, Tommy Halferty, Ed Neumeister, Kevin O’Connell, and Stéphane Payen. These collaborations can be heard on albums such as Maelstrom (2016),Halferty, Tom & Kimura, Izumi. Maelstrom. 689232111427. 2016. Cloudscapes (2013),Mogerley, Stephen, "’Cloudscapes- Michael Buckley & Izumi Kimura." YouTube video file. October, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBY6ETVlvSs and Muga (2013).
Discography Artist Album title Release date Izumi Kimura Asymmetry June 6, 2010
Glacial Voyage (Challenge/Between The Lines 2025) with Christy Doran
External links Izumi Kimura's website Asymmetry on the Diatribe website
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External links