PERFORMANCE: Critical Response Trio

PERFORMANCE: Critical Response Trio

Jason Kao Hwang, Anders Nilsson, and Michael T.A. Thompson

Thursday, October 29th, 2026 at 7PM

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}

TICKETS – $12 General Admission / $8 for BMCM+AC members + Students w/ID

Join us for an evening performance at BMCM+AC by the Critical Response Trio (Jason Kao Hwang, Anders Nilsson, and Michael T.A. Thompson).

Arising from the synergy of composition and improvisation, through the kaleidoscopic sound world of the electric violin, guitar and drum set, Critical Response challenges the disillusionment and divisiveness that encircle this moment in history. They have performed in venues throughout New York City, including Roulette in Brooklyn. Their first CD, Book of Stories, received international praise. This past summer Critical Response recorded their second CD, Uprising, which will be released in 2027.

About the Members:

The music of Jason Kao Hwang (composer/violin/viola) explores the vibrations and language of his history. His compositions are often narrative landscapes through which sonic beings embark upon extemporaneous, transformational journeys. Raised during the “melting pot” era of assimilation, Mr. Hwang did not learn Chinese from his immigrant parents, only English. When his parents spoke in Chinese to each other, he would listen intently to glean meaning from the inflection, pitch, rhythm, and timbre of their phrases. Mr. Hwang imagines this musical experience of the Chinese language as the foundation of his creative instincts. His most recent releases Critical Response, Book of Stories, Uncharted Faith, his duets with the late J.A. Deane, The Human Rites Trio, and Conjure, his duos with the late Karl Berger, have received critical acclaim. In 2019, 2018, 2013 and 2012 the El Intruso Jazz Critics Poll voted him #1 for Violin. The 2012 Downbeat Critics’ Poll voted Mr. Hwang as “Rising Star for Violin.” As violinist, he has worked with Henry Threadgill, Karl Berger, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Butch Morris, Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Pauline Oliveros, Billy Bang, Leroy Jenkins, Patrick Brennan, Tomeka Reid and many others. As composer, Mr. Hwang has received support from Chamber Music America, US Artists International, the NEA, Rockefeller Foundation and others. He is a recipient of a 2023 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship.

Anders Nilsson is a New York-based guitarist, composer, improviser. He plays electric guitars, 11-string alto guitar and baĝlama. His output spans a wide musical spectrum ranging from solo shows (“Night Guitar”), Anders Nilsson Group (a rhythm-heavy band in NYC), “Outer Space Caravan” with violist Staphanie Griffin, saxophonist Michael Attias and bassist Ken Filiano, Anders Nilsson’s AORTA. He is also a band member in several groups playing jazz or improvised music. After receiving a BA from Malmö Academy of Music and having worked as a musician in Sweden for a few years he moved to New York in 2000 and got his MA from CCNY. He has performed and/or recorded or toured internationally with many artists associated with the blues/jazz/experimental paradigms such as Kalabalik (with Raoul Björkenheim and Gerald Cleaver), Paquito D’Rivera, William Parker, Elliot Sharp, Fay Victor, art-metal band Angelblood, and Persian vocalist Mohsen Namjoo. Always welcoming of interdisciplinary interaction, he has collaborated with Butoh artist Akira Kasai, theatre director Doris Mirescu and video artist Arrien Zinghini. Nilsson’s work as a composer includes music for short films, dance performances, string quartet, theatre plays, as well as a constantly growing book of a hundred compositions including brief to epic works for solo guitar, jazz, to large experimental ensemble works. Many of these works have been released on several acclaimed albums.

Soundrhythium Michael T.A. Thompson (drums) is an anomaly. He has played, toured and/or recorded with such a wide variety of musical artists, including Charles Gayle, Joe McPhee, Oliver Lake, Kidd Jordan, Alex Foster, Roy Campbell Jr., Dennis Gonzales, Matthew Shipp, Uri Caine, Henry Grimes, John Patitucci, Marc Ribot, William Parker, The Shadow, Becket, reggae artist Owen Gray, as well as artists from classical to rap and beyond. He has played on sound tracks for TV shows and Radio commercials etc.. T.A.’s palate encompasses an abundance of sound colors. He hears everything and plays with it in a way that’s ever inventive and perceptively responsive. Thompson plays as he breathes. You’ll always find him in the moment, inspired as well as inspiring.