Kyoko Kitamura is a Brooklyn-based vocal improviser, composer, multidisciplinary artist, producer and educator. She co-leads the collective quartet Geometry (with cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, guitarist Joe Morris, cellist Tomeka Reid) and the collective trio Siren Xypher (with violist Melanie Dyer and pianist Mara Rosenbloom). Siren Xypher produces the Brooklyn Free Spirit Festival. Kitamura is also active in several of bassist and composer William Parker’s projects.
For over a decade, Kitamura collaborated extensively with legendary composer Anthony Braxton, featuring in many of his performances and releases including the operas Trillium E and Trillium J. Kitamura directed and co-produced GTM(Syntax)2017, the 11-hour recording of Braxton’s unique vocal-driven Syntactical Ghost Trance Music system, and created the 2023 documentary Introduction to Syntactical Ghost Trance Music which DownBeat Magazine describes as “an invaluable resource for Braxton-philes.”
A sought-after vocalist for multidisciplinary projects, Kitamura’s credits include Matthew Barney’s 2023 five-channel installation Secondary, in which Kitamura provides vocals and has an on-screen role, Audra Wolowiec‘s site-specific 2024 project (waves), choreographer Rachel Bernsen’s ongoing performance event Novel Formats and Bennington College site-specific performance of artist Emilio Rojas‘ work Control the Bor(D)ers for which Kitamura directed the music performed by Bennington students.
Kitamura has balanced careers as a media professional and a musician. Formerly a journalist, she later directed communications and served as executive director for Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation. Kitamura has taught at Dartmouth College, the Kaufman Music Center, Arts for Art’s Visionary Youth Orchestra, The New School, and has been a visiting faculty member at Bennington College since 2022.
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Kitamura has performed in major festivals in the U.S. and around the world including Big Ears (Knoxville, TN), JazzFest Berlin (Germany), Moers Festival (Germany), Edition Festival for Other Music (Stockholm, Sweden) and Vision Festival (NYC). Formerly a journalist at Fuji Television Japan, Kitamura did a stint as a Gulf War reporter in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before turning her attention back to music.
Kitamura studied piano at Juilliard Pre-College with Ms. Jane Carlson, and privately studied counterpoint and Schoenberg harmony with Mr. Paul Caputo. She was born in NYC (U.S.A.), raised partially in Tokyo (Japan), spent a few summers in Melbourne (Australia), lived and worked for many years in Paris (France), currently resides in Brooklyn, NY (U.S.A.). Kitamura is a CELTA-certified educator.