When Music Speaks: Jason Kao Hwang and the Search for Meaning in Myths of Origin

Composer and conductor Jason Kao Hwang is proud to announce the release of Myths of Origin, a live recording taken from his performance with an improvisational string orchestra at the 2022 Vision Festival at Roulette in Brooklyn, New York. The album was officially released on July 7 and marks a significant milestone in Hwang's musical and political journey.

Myths of Origin is more than just experimental music; it is an artistic statement challenging the Orientalist narratives still embedded in mainstream society. Through a musical language free from ethnic and genre boundaries, Hwang invites us to rethink human relationships, identity, and the collective imagination. “To be transformed by possibilities rooted in truth is to transcend all Myths of Origin,” he writes.

The work is performed by an improvisational string orchestra comprised of dozens of talented musicians from diverse backgrounds. These include violinists like Charles Burnham, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, and Elena Moon Park; viola players like Melanie Dyer and Judith Insell; cellists like Lester St. Louis and Tomas Ulrich; and guitarists Che Chen and Hans Tammen. The strong rhythm is supported by Ken Filiano on bass and Andrew Drury on drums.

In this composition, Hwang uses a specially designed vocabulary of body gestures to lead the musicians into an improvisational flow connected to the written score. The result is a spontaneous musical flow that ignites new possibilities for who we are and who we can become.

Myths of Origin is a work that combines aesthetic boldness, collective spirit, and resistance to stereotypes. It is an invitation to listen—and to be—beyond the limitations imposed by history. 

- Indonesian Jazz News.    Read at WartaJazz.com