Sparks & Wiry Cries Presents Ninth Annual NYC songSLAM on February 7

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

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Sparks & Wiry Cries and National Sawdust Present the
Ninth Annual NYC songSLAM on February 7 

Sparks & Wiry Cries & Vital Opera Present the World Premiere of
Meltdown, a Dramatic Work Connecting Climate Change to
Sexism in Science, at National Sawdust on February 8

www.sparksandwirycries.org

New York, NY (January 7, 2024) — Sparks & Wiry Cries, led by Co-Founders and Directors Martha Guth and Erika Switzer, together with National Sawdust hosts the ninth annual songSLAM on Friday, February 7, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at National Sawdust. The songSLAM event features 15 songSLAM teams made up of composers, singers, and pianists premiering songs for a voting audience, culminating in a cash prize and a performance by the 2024 songSLAM Commission Prize Winner, Songs of the Prince by Jonathan Wyatt.

Fashioned after traditional poetry slams and storytelling events like The Moth, Sparks & Wiry Cries’s songSLAMs give teams of composers and performers a chance to present world premieres of art songs and compete for audience-awarded cash prizes totaling up to $2,000. Every year Sparks & Wiry Cries awards a songSLAM commission prize to one of the composers from the previous NYC songSLAM. This year’s winning commission, to be performed on February 7 following the songSLAM, will be the world premiere of Songs of the Prince by composer Jonathan Wyatt, performed by tenor (and the work’s poet) James Danner and pianist Danny Zelibor.

Sparks & Wiry Cries’s flagship NYC songSLAM continues to expand its global reach. First premiered in NYC in 2015, the songSLAM has now been or will be co-presented with regional partners in four countries and 10 different cities around the globe: NYC, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Ljubljana, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Waco, with even more growth on the horizon.

The following evening on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at National Sawdust, Sparks & Wiry Cries and Vital Opera present the world premiere of Meltdown, a one-act dramatic work for mezzo-soprano and piano trio — grounded in scientific practice — that explores the intertwined dynamics of grief over the climate crisis, sexual harassment and violence, and the exploitation of people and land. Composed by Stefan Weisman with a libretto by David Cote and Hai-Ting Chinn, the story follows a glaciologist, played by mezzo-soprano and co-librettist Hai-Ting Chinn, as her lecture on the impact of climate change on ice sheet mass loss evolves into a study of how prejudice against women in the scientific field springs from the same exploitative impulse that has so affected the environment.

Augmented by video captured on Greenland’s ice sheet during recent expeditions, Meltdown is rooted in science and lived experience. The project’s science advisor is Dr. Åsa Rennermalm, a leader of expeditions to Greenland. Through interviews with Rennermalm and research about structural sexism in science, the librettists have devised a narrative that blends fact, fiction, and lyrical reflection. The 65-minute piece begins as a lecture that opens up into a psychological landscape, a symbolic ice sheet where the Glaciologist explains exactly what’s at stake. 

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Event Information:
Ninth Annual NYC songSLAM
Friday, February 7, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
National Sawdust | 80 N 6th St | Brooklyn NY, 11249
Tickets: $32.27 - $37.27 including fees 
Link: https://www.nationalsawdust.org/event/sparks-wiry-cries-songslam 

Program:
songSLAM compositions
Jonathan Wyatt – Songs of the Prince with poetry by James Danner (2024) *World Premiere

2025 NYC songSLAM Teams:

 

• Team 1: 
  
  Corporate Life ? Zachary Sloan
  Team Members: Victoria Popritkin, soprano, Neill Campbell, pianist & Zachary Sloan, composer & poet

 

• Team 2: 
  
  Shift ? Joshua Bornfield
  Team Members: Michael Manganiello, baritone, Stephanie Baird, pianist, Joshua Bornfield, composer & Tom Haviv, poet

 

• Team 3: 
  
  The First Bluebird ? Braden Allison with text by James Whitcomb Riley
  Team Members: Ann McDonald Weible, soprano & Braden Allison, composer & pianist

 

• Team 4: 
  
  Laundry Day ? Meg Huskin
  Team Members: Elisheva Pront, soprano, Jialiang Li, pianist, Meg Huskin, composer & poet

 

• Team 5: 
  
  Glass Delusion ? Elizabeth Gartman
  Team Members: Laura Whittenberger, soprano, Austin Philemon, pianist, Elizabeth Gartman, composer & Susan Bywaters, poet

 

• Team 6: 
  
  Sea Song ? Leigha Amick with text by Katherine Mansfield
  Team Members: Katie Trigg, mezzo soprano, Reese Revak, pianist, Leigha Amick, composer

 

• Team 7: 
  
  Kitsune ? Kristen Baum
  Team Members: Alexandria McNeely, soprano, Chun-Hsin (Cynthia) Liu, pianist, Kristen Baum, composer, & Sarah Ann Winn, poet

 

• Team 8: 
  
  My Brick House ? Laura Nevitt
  Team Members: Juan Suarez, baritone & poet, Jacob LyteHaven, pianist & Laura Nevitt, composer

 

• Team 9: 
  
  The Banned-Book Tango ? Jordan Rutter-Covatto
  Team Members: Sydney Anderson, soprano Mila Henry, pianist, Jordan Rutter-Covatto, composer & Fred Sauter, poet

 

• Team 10: 
  
  Horror Movie ? Marcus DeLoach with text by Howard Moss
  Team Members: Marcus DeLoach, baritone & composer & Grant Loehnig, pianist

 

• Team 11: 
  
  ???? "Soaring into the light" ? Justin (YukWing) Cheung
  Team Members: Hana Yiu, contralto, Leona Cheung, piano, Justin (YukWing) Cheung, composer & Olivia Lai, poet

 

• Team 12: 
  
  Mother of Earth and Sky from MOTHERS OF RAGNARÖK ? Erik Franklin
  Team Members: Claire Galloway, soprano, John Henderson, pianist & Erik Franklin, composer & poet

 

• Team 13: 
  
  Changing is Existing ? Anthony Gatto with text by Gertrude Stein
  Team Members: Gelsey Bell, vocalist, David Friend, pianist & Anthony Gatto, composer

 

• Team 14: 
  
  Poems of Catullus ? Deborah Mason
  Team Members: Paul Max Tipton, bass-baritone, Molly Morkoski, pianist, Deborah Mason composer, with Catullus, poet & Robert Scotto, translator

 

• Team 15: 
  
  Alone ? Patrick Michael Wickham with text by Edgar Allen Poe 
  Team Members: Hilary Baboukis, mezzo-soprano, Mark Wagner, pianist, Patrick Michael Wickham, composer & co-poet

Meltdown
Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
National Sawdust | 80 N 6th St | Brooklyn NY, 11249
Tickets: $32.27 - $37.27 including fees
Link: https://www.nationalsawdust.org/event/sparks-wiry-cries-presents-meltdown 

Program:
Meltdown by Hai-Ting Chinn, David Cote, and Stefan Weisman (2025) *World Premiere

Artists:
Hai-Ting Chinn, libretto & mezzo-soprano
David Cote, libretto
Stefan Weisman, composer
Erika Switzer, music director and piano 
Francesca Anderegg, violin
Jules Biber, cello
Kevin Chan, stage director
Camilla Tassi, projection design

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Meltdown Artist Bios:

Hai-Ting Chinn (Co-Librettist and Performer) 
Hai-Ting Chinn’s career spans music from medieval to new, and a range of theatrical styles from performance-practice to wildly experimental. She was featured in The Wooster Group’s La Didone, Einstein on the Beach (Philip Glass/Robert Wilson) and in several monodramas written for her, as well as standard operatic, oratorio, and concert repertoire. Hai-Ting is the creator of Science Fair: An Opera With Experiments, and of Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space, based on the words of women astronauts (with Trio Triumphatrix). See more at hai-ting.com. 

David Cote (Co-Librettist) 
David Cote is a NYC-based librettist, playwright, and theater critic. Upcoming work includes Lucidity (On Site Opera and Seattle Opera) and Blind Injustice (MasterVoices at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater). Past work includes Three Way (Nashville Opera and BAM) and The Scarlet Ibis (Prototype Festival and Chicago Opera Theater). David wrote the text for Nkeiru Okoye’s Black Lives Matter monodrama, Invitation to a Die-In. Recordings include Blind Injustice (NAXOS), Three Way (American Modern Recordings), and In Real Life (AMR). As a critic, David’s TV and theater coverage appears in The A.V. Club, Observer, 4 Columns, and American Theatre. He’s the author of companion books about the Broadway hits Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Spring Awakening, Jersey Boys, and Wicked. 

Stefan Weisman (Composer)
Stefan Weisman’s music has range, earning ardent praise from opera critics as “personal, moody and skillfully wrought” (The New York Times) and “a touching tour de force” (New York Magazine) as well as delighting the host of The Wendy Williams Show who called “Twinkie,” his satirical art song, “Fabulous!” His opera Darkling, commissioned by American Opera Projects, was included in the Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process series, premiered to great acclaim in New York, and toured Europe. It was released by Albany Records. His one-act opera Fade, commissioned by the British opera company Second Movement, premiered in London. The Scarlet Ibis debuted in New York’s acclaimed Prototype Festival, co-produced by HERE and Beth Morrison Projects. The New York Times praised The Scarlet Ibis as an “outstanding new chamber musical” and The Wall Street Journal called it “subtly subversive, and its production groundbreaking.” Visit stefanweisman.com.

Kelvin Chan (Producer and Stage Director) 
Kelvin Chan is a Netherlands-based Chinese American artist pursuing his core commitment to cultivating human connection through the arts as a performer, dramaturg, stage director, and arts leader. His credits in new music theater and opera include projects throughout the United States, Poland, the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He is the Founding General Director of the social impact arts organization, Vital Opera. www.vitalopera.org. 

Erika Switzer (Music Director) 
Erika Switzer is an accomplished collaborative pianist who performs regularly in major concert settings around the world, such as New York’s Weill Hall (Carnegie), Frick Collection, and the Kennedy Center. Her performances have been called “precise and lucid” (The 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. Switzer is a co-founder of the organization Sparks & Wiry Cries, which curates opportunities for art song creators, performers, and scholars through innovative initia­tives that capture the stories of diverse com­munities. She is assistant professor of music at Bard College and director of collaborative piano studies at the Conservatory, and holds a doctorate from The Juilliard School.

Camilla Tassi (Projection Design) 
Camilla Tassi is a NYC-based projection designer from Florence, Italy. Design credits include Falling Out of Time (Carnegie Hall), King Arthur (Lincoln Center, Juilliard415), SEACHANGE (Miami City Ballet), The Extinctionist (Heartbeat Opera), Adoration (BMP & PROTOTYPE), SANDRA (TheaterWorks Hartford), Elijah Reimagined (Kennedy Center), Alcina (Yale Opera), Iphigénie en Tauride (Boston Baroque), and Malhaar (Walt Disney Concert Hall). Broadway: Illinoise, Associate. She has sung in the NY Phil chorus. Tassi holds degrees in computer science, music, and projection design. Burry Fredrik design award and Robert L. Tobin Director-Designer opera prize. Yale, MFA. IG: camtassi  http://camillatassi.com 

Dr. Åsa K. Rennermalm (Science Advisor) 
Dr. Åsa K. Rennermalm is an associate professor at the Department of Geography at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research interest is the hydrology of the Arctic region. Currently, she is discovering how water is transported and retained within the Greenland ice sheet to better understand how much meltwater escapes to the ocean and rising global sea levels. Her work involves modeling, satellite and in situ data analysis, and fieldwork. She has participated in several field expeditions to the Arctic, mainly Greenland. More here. 

About Vital Opera
Founded in 2012, Vital Opera is a social impact arts organization dedicated to the cultivation of compassion and connection in society through the use of opera and its sister arts. For more information, visit www.vitalopera.org

About Sparks & Wiry Cries
Sparks & Wiry Cries exists to curate opportunities for art song creators, performers, and scholars. It began in 2009 as a podcast and online magazine, contextualizing art song through the sharing of recordings, interviews, and articles by prominent artists and scholars. In 2015, co-founders soprano Martha Guth and pianist Erika Switzer expanded their vision by presenting an art song recital series based in New York City’ today, sparksLIVE events and the Art Song Magazine actively engage in current conversations through insightful publishing, programming, and commissioning. Recent additions to the Sparks brand are the curation and publication of new works through E.C. Schirmer and NewMusicShelf, and the development of art song performance projects as represented by UIA Talent Agency. 

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