FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts and Media
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | (646) 378-9386

Sparks & Wiry Cries Presents 2022 songSLAM Festival

World Premieres by Composers Rachel DeVore Fogarty and John Glover, and Live Premieres by Reinaldo Moya and Andrew Staniland

Performances by Maria Brea, Martha Guth, Myra Huang, Michael Kelly, LaToya Lain, jessica Care moore, Erika Switzer, and Howard Watkins

Virtual & Live Performances from the Blue Building in NYC, January 13, 14 and 15, 2022

www.sparksandwirycries.org

November 30, 2021, New York, NY — Sparks & Wiry Cries (Sparks), led by Co-Founders and Directors Martha Guth and Erika Switzer, presents its 2022 songSLAM Festival featuring virtual and live performances from January 13 to 15, 2022 at the Blue Building (222 E 46th St) in New York City, including four live world premieres, a hybrid version of the popular songSLAM competition, and an all-virtual recital.

The Festival kicks off on Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 7pm EST with Songs of Identity, a virtual recital. The program features four singer and pianist duos in works that reflect the fullness and complexities of their diverse identities and lived experiences. Featured performers include tenor Bo Shimmin and pianist Natalie Sherer, soprano Shana Oshiro and pianist Brian Bartoldus, mezzo-soprano Hailey McAvoy and pianist Bethany Pietroniro, and soprano Paulina Swierczek and pianist Ania Vu. The recital will be available on the Sparks & Wiry Cries website.

The following evening, Friday, January 14, 2022 at 7pm EST at the Blue Building, Sparks presents At the Crossroads, a concert featuring four commissioned works that focus on stories advancing the critical dialogues around the issues of our time. The program includes the live premiere of Ciudad perdida (The Lost City) by Reinaldo Moya, commissioned for the 2021 songSLAM Festival, which will be performed by soprano Maria Brea and pianist Howard Watkins; the live premiere of Ramadan 20 vs COVID 19 by Andrew Staniland, also a 2021 songSLAM Festival commission, performed by soprano LaToya Lain, poet jessica Care moore, and pianist Erika Switzer; two world premieres commissioned for the 2022 songSLAM Festival, After Him by John Glover, performed by baritone and poet Michael Kelly and pianist Howard Watkins, and From the Woolworth Tower by 2021 songSLAM Commission Prize winner Rachel DeVore Fogarty, to be performed by sopranos Maria Brea, Martha Guth, and LaToya Lain, with pianist Myra Huang. Glover and Fogarty’s works will be simultaneously released on the Sparks & Wiry Cries website as two new music videos.

The songSLAM Festival concludes on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 7pm EST at the Blue Building with the NYC songSLAM, a unique community event for composer/performer teams to premiere new art songs and compete for cash prizes, determined by audience voting. songSLAM prizes include First Place ($1,000), Second Place ($600), and Third Place ($400). Additionally, one team will be selected by Sparks & Wiry Cries for a paid commission in a future season.

Building on the incredible response and broad audience reach of the virtual songSLAM in January 2021, Sparks & Wiry Cries will incorporate both recorded and live elements into the 2022 NYC songSLAM competition. For this hybrid format, all participating teams recorded their entry professionally in November 2021; recordings will be shared virtually on Sparks & Wiry Cries’ website and YouTube channel between January 7 to 15, 2022. This final live performance concludes the voting period.

Teams will compete via a text-to-vote function through Give Lively and audiences can vote for as little as $1 starting January 7, 2022 through the Sparks & Wiry Cries website. Teams that raise the most funds will win songSLAM awards. Funds raised during the event are reinvested into larger commissions, future competitions, and new art song initiatives.

Festival Information

Songs of Identity
Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 7pm EST
Tickets: Free
Link: http://www.sparksandwirycries.org/songslam22

Program to be announced 

Brian Bartoldus, pianist
Hailey McAvoy, mezzo-soprano
Shana Oshiro, soprano
Bethany Pietroniro, pianist
Natalie Sherer, pianist
Bo Shimmin, tenor
Paulina Swierczek, soprano
Ania Vu, pianist

At the Crossroads
Friday, January 14, 2022 at 7pm EST
Blue Building | 222 E 46th St | New York, NY 10017
Tickets: $25 General admission, $15 Student/Senior (with ID)
Link: http://www.sparksandwirycries.org/songslam22

REINALDA MOYA: Ciudad perdida [Live Premiere]
     Maria Brea, Howard Watkins

ANDREW STANILAND: Ramadan 20 vs COVID 19 [Live Premiere]
     LaToya Lain, jessica Care moore, Erika Switzer

JOHN GLOVER: After Him [World Premiere]
     Michael Kelly, Howard Watkins

RACHEL DEVORE FOGARTY: From the Woolworth Tower [World Premiere]
     Maria Brea, LaToya Lain, Martha Guth, Myra Huang

Maria Brea, soprano
Martha Guth, soprano
Myra Huang, pianist
Michael Kelly, baritone
LaToya Lain, soprano
jessica Care moore, poet
Erika Switzer, pianist
Howard Watkins, pianist

6th Annual NYC songSLAM
Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 7pm EST
Blue Building | 222 E 46th St | New York, NY 10017
Info: http://www.sparksandwirycries.org/songslam22

Program and artists to be announced

About Sparks & Wiry Cries
Sparks & Wiry Cries (Sparks) began in 2009 as an online magazine contextualizing art song through recordings, interviews, and articles by prominent artists and scholars. In 2012, its art song recital series in New York City began with support from the Casement Fund, Ltd. In 2015, Sparks received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, growing to support its community through the successful Art Song Magazine and the rebranding of the Casement Fund Song Series as the annual NYC songSLAM Festival. In 2016, Sparks developed the popular NYC songSLAM competition for emerging composer/singer/pianist teams to premiere new works for a chance at audience-awarded cash prizes. Since then, Sparks has co-produced over 20 regional songSLAMs (five during the pandemic) in three countries. Over 400 musicians have participated and more than 200 songs have been written and premiered by young composers, 15 of which were published in the first songSLAM Songbook published by New Music Shelf in June 2020.

Fashioned after traditional poetry slams and storytelling events like The Moth, each of Sparks’ songSLAMs gives teams of composers and performers a chance to present world premieres of art song and compete for audience-awarded cash prizes totaling up to $2,000. Each regional songSLAM is produced with a partnering local organization. Since the inaugural songSLAM of 2016, our first come, first served registration often fills in under 30 minutes of opening, and our songSLAM audiences are typically sold out and/or standing room only. The songSLAM was developed to bring in new, energized, and invested audiences for art song while removing barriers and gatekeepers for performers and composers. 

In 2022, Sparks will partner with organizations across the United States and internationally to produce 8 songSLAM events, allowing for the premiere of over 100 new songs and engaging with well over 200 emerging artists in the following cities: NYC (Sparks), Cincinnati (CSI), Chicago (Fourth Coast Ensemble), Ljubljana, Slovenia (Festival Ljubljana), London, U.K. (ReSung), Melbourne, AUS (University of Melbourne), and Otago, NZ (University of Otago). Finally, the NATS National Conference will co-host a GRAND songSLAM during their annual summer convention; all past participants will have the opportunity to apply for this competition with a national platform and $5,000 in prize money. Learn more about Sparks & Wiry Cries at www.sparksandwirycries.org. 

About Martha Guth
Martha Guth has worked with major conductors and recital partners including Seiji Ozawa, Robert Spano, Helmut Rilling, and Alan Gilbert, Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau, and Erika Switzer, at venues such as Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, Leeds Lieder, and St. John Smith Square. Her extensive discography has been recognized with a Juno nomination and Latin Grammy Nomination, and she has won several major international competitions including the 2007 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. Martha holds a DMA from the University of Michigan, is Assistant Professor of Voice at Ithaca College, on faculty at the Vocal Academy of the Collaborative Piano Institute, and on the Artistic Administrative team and Faculty for SongFest at Colburn in Los Angeles. Learn more at www.marthaguth.com.

About Erika Switzer
Erika Switzer is an accomplished collaborative pianist who performs regularly in major concert settings around the world, including New York’s Weill Hall (Carnegie), Frick Collection, and the Kennedy Center. Her performances have been called “precise and lucid” (New York Times), and “intelligent, refined, and captivating” (Le Monde). She has won numerous awards, including best pianist prizes at the Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Wigmore Hall International Song Competitions. She serves on the music faculty at Bard College and its Conservatory of Music, and holds a doctorate from The Juilliard School. Learn more at www.erikaswitzer.com. 

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