Jason Kao Hwang's composition Myths of Origin was created from scored notation and improvisations conducted with a lexicon of gestures. This premiere performance by my Uprising orchestra on October 10, 2021, was presented by Arts for Art at the Flamboyan Theater in the Clemente, New York City.
The score has ten notated passages that can be cued in any order. Improvisations are cued and shaped by a lexicon of conducting gestures, which are listed in the score. Musicians are empowered to sound in their own unique voices to interpret the score and conducting. With improvisations they also can also generate new ideas that the conductor will respond to. These dynamic interactions propel the music forward in a metalanguage that constantly evolves with each performance. Though the living sonic physiology is complex, the music is whole, essential and irreducible.
For Uprising, I have consciously included Asian American musicians, to give them visibility and encourage their creativity, which is especially important during this time when anti-Asian violence has increased exponentially across the country.
At 50:25 we play Amazing Grace to honor and remember bassist Francois Grilliot and violinist Elektra Kurtis, two members of the string improviser community who recently transitioned to the spirit world. Both Francois and Elektra recorded with the earlier version of this orchestra, Spontaneous River, on my 2011 CD, Symphony of Souls (Mulatta Records)
Jason Kao Hwang/Uprising
Jason Kao Hwang - composer/conductor
Violin: Charles Burnham, Eddy Kwon, Talice Lee, Rosi Hertlein, Tom Swafford, Sana Nagano, Benjamin Sutton
Viola: Judith Insell, Eric Salazar
Cello: Tomas Ulrich, Lester St. Louis
Guitars: Che Chen, Dave Ross, Hans Tammen
Bass: Ken Filiano, Hill Greene
Drum set: Andrew Drury
Video by Eriq Robinson and Zak Sherzad
