Incalculable Likelihood is a creative improvised oratorio inspired by and  featuring tape of composer Melanie Dyer’s grandmother, singing snippets of sacred songs she wrote as a member of the Church of God and Saints of Christ community, a now 120 year old African American settlement in Virginia. Incalculable Likelihood is a sonic reckoning of Black memory, imagination, resilience and triumph.

 

About the Artists 

Photo by Mariana Meraz

Melanie Dyer (Mabou Mines Associate Artist) is a violist whose main practice is creative improvisation. She attended the University of Denver’s LaMont School of Music and studied with William Lincer, Lee Yeingst, John Jake Kella and Naomi Fellows. She has performed/recorded with the Sun Ra Arkestra under Marshall Allen, William Parker, Tomeka Reid, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, and other notable artists. She founded the WeFreeStrings ensemble in 2011. She co-produced Scientific Soul Session, a series of underground salon performances, dialogues, plays and film in her Harlem home from 2004-11. She is currently a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and has received support from NYSCA Support for Artists, Herb Alpert Ragdale Prize, New Music USA, Chamber Music America, and Jazz Road South Arts. https://melanievioladyer.weebly.com/

Sandye Wilson  is an actor, filmmaker/director, best known for her films So Many Things to Consider (1996) and notsoprivate (2004); and acting roles in Sidewalk Stories (Cannes/1989) and Naked Acts (1996). Wilson studied at Bennington College (VT) and The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London). She was a member of the pioneering New York collective Rodeo Caledonia High-Fidelity Performance Theater, and co-founder of two performance groups of writers, directors and actors – Urban Griots and Gap-Tooth Girlfriends: The Third Act.  She is a recipient of the National Black Programming Consortium major filmmaking grant and Black Public Media’s Emerging Artists Award.