Incalculable Likelihood is a jazz and creative music oratorio — a sonic meditation on Black being, memory, existential resilience and transcendence. Dyer and Wilson’s work embraces the nature of human connection through narratives related to history, deep personal experience, spiritual presence and social critique.

 

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 a filmmaker and performer whose creative voice has been shaped by wide-ranging experiences, including years in Corporate America. She created the award-winning short films, “So Many Things to Consider”—which premiered at the New York Film Festival and Sundance—and “notsoprivate”, a semi-documentary with Carrie Mae Weems exploring sex, love, and desire through the voices of African American women. An early recipient of the National Black Programming Consortium’s Emerging Artist Award, Wilson’s work is celebrated for its honesty and intimacy. Collaboration is at the heart of her practice. She was a member of the pioneering collective Rodeo Caledonia High-Fidelity Performance Theater and of Gap-Tooth Girlfriends: The Third Act, where she first worked with Melanie Dyer, and a co-founder of Urban Griots. She and her creative partner, Sally Stewart, co-created Pop Pairings, a lifestyle show celebrating wine, food, life, and storytelling.