Jason Kao Hwang

Chinese American violinist and composer (born 1957)

violinist
composer

Websitejasonkaohwang.com

Jason Kao Hwang (born 1957) is a Chinese American violinist and composer. He is known for his unconventional and improvisational jazz violin technique as well as his chamber opera The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown which premiered in 2001 and was released in 2005 on New World Records. ^[1]^[2]

Life and career

Hwang's parents had emigrated to the United States from Hunan after World War II. He was born in Lake Forest, Illinois and grew up in Waukegan. He studied classical violin before attending New York University where he received a degree in film and television. During his time at NYU, he became interested in jazz, and soon devoted himself to a career as a musician. He was active in New York City's free jazz scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but over the next decade he increasingly focused on Asian American jazz. His later work, including his opera The Floating Box and his extended composition Burning Bridge for a mixed ensemble of jazz, classical and Chinese instruments, has explored his own identity as an Asian American.^[3]^[1]^[4]^[5]

Discography

With Jason Kao Hwang and the Spontaneous River Orchestra

Symphony of Souls (Mulatta Records), 2013

With Billy Bang

Outline No. 12 (Celluloid, 1982 [1983])

With Anthony Braxton

Sextet (Istanbul) 1996 (Braxton House, 1995 [1996])
Octet (New York) 1995 (Braxton House, 1995 [1997])

With Jerome Cooper

Outer and Interactions (About Time, 1988)

With Dominic Duval

Cries and Whispers (Cadence Jazz, 1999 [2001])

With William Parker

Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace (Centering, 1980)
Sunrise in the Tone World (AUM Fidelity, 1995 [1997])

With Henry Threadgill

Too Much Sugar for a Dime (Axiom, 1993)
Carry the Day (Columbia, 1995)

With Reggie Workman

Altered Spaces (Leo, 1993)

References

^ ^a ^b Kajikawam Loren (2013). "Hwang, Jason Kao". The Grove Dictionary of American Music. Retrieved 14 June 2018 (subscription required for full access).
^ Rochester, Marc (2005). "Opera: The Floating Box". International Record Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 86.
^ Michalowski, Piotr (October 2008). "Jason Kao Hwang: Pan-Asian-American music". Ann Arbor Observer. Retrieved 14 June 2018
^ Heflin, James (28 January 2015). "Building a House of Song: Violinist Jason Kao Hwang brings his improv-based Sing House to town". The Valley Advocate. Retrieved 14 June 2018
^ Whitehead, Kevin (26 November 2012). "Jason Kao Hwang: From The Blues To China And Back" NPR. Retrieved 14 June 2018