The Free Musketeers includes three improvising musicians (double bass, drums and electronics) and a writer who combine in their performance the means of literature, theatre, dance and music.
Jan Kaus is a writer, translator and essayist. He has published collections of poetry, short stories, miniatures, essays, and six novels. Kaus has written articles and essays about literature, philosophy, politics, visual art, architecture, theater, film, and music. He was the chairman of the Estonian Writers’ Union from 2004–2007 and has worked as an editor of the essay and literature sections of Sirp, Estonia’s largest cultural publication. Kaus has likewise focused on various forms of creative expression aside of writing. He has worked closely with the Estonian composer Märt-Matis Lill to write libretti for three of Lill’s pieces, including two operas.
Mingo Rajandi is an composer, double bass player, artistic director and performer. Her roots are in theatre and both in jazz and classical music. She leads several ensembles and composes music for different collectives. In recent years she has been involved in interdisciplinary art working with actors, writers, choreographers, visual artist and musicians with different back-grounds.
Ekke Västrik is an sound designer, composer and improviser on modular synthesizers. In his compositions he likes to use sound objects, field recordings and modular synths. He is particularly interested in combining electronic and acoustic sounds.
Ahto Abner is an drummer, producer and performer. His musical range is huge – from jazz to free improvisation, pop and contemporary. He sees music as a possibility to discover something new in human nature and is always up to something he hasn’t yet tried. He also takes interest in interdisciplinary work performing often with poets, dancers and actors.