Composer and pianist Martin Fondse and multidisciplinary artist Femi Dawkins explore the power of the Wild Card. In card games, it is the trump card: the card that can take on any role, break patterns of play and bring unexpected turns. In society, they see that role reserved for the thinker, the contrarian and the artist, who question entrenched ideas and make room for something new.

In WILD CARD they perform with the remarkable string quintet Woodcraft. With improvisation as the foundation, acoustic instruments, electronics, spoken word and poetry flow into one another. Through live sampling, the musicians are in constant dialogue with each other and with their surroundings, so the perspective keeps shifting. Dawkins’ powerful texts on justice, the diaspora and the human search for meaning form a richly contrasting counterpart to Fondse’s adventurous music.

Femi Dawkins spoken word, Martin Fondse piano/electronics
Woodcraft: Wouter Torringa violin, Noah Hassler-Forest violin, Joshua Herwig cello, Ischa Kooistra cello, Reinout De Vey cello