LIVE SONGSLAM tickets $25 | $20
The 5th Annual Chicago songSLAM, in partnership with Sparks and Wiry Cries, is a unique and energizing community event for composer/performer teams to premiere new art songs and compete for cash prizes. Fashioned after poetry slams and storytelling events, teams will premiere a new song of no more than 5 minutes for voice and piano and compete for $3,000 in audience-awarded cash prizes. Expanding upon the success of the last three years’ virtual component, this year all teams will:
- Have their entry professionally recorded on April 21 or 27, 2024, at Lyriq Music School in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood,
- AND perform their entry in the Live songSLAM on May 14, 2024, 7pm, at The Promontory in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood.
Beloved Chicago composer Stacy Garrop serves as emcee for the Live songSLAM event on May 14th, 7pm at The Promontory. Composers will be interviewed on stage prior to their team’s premiere, and the LIVE voting audience will vote on their favorite to award $2,000 in prize money as follows:
$1,000 for first place, $600 for second place, $400 for third place
The new Virtual Chicago songSLAM opens on Fourth Coast Ensemble’s website on May 14th at 10pm (featuring the professional studio recordings captured on April 21/27) and remains open through May 31st at 5pm. Online audience members will vote with their dollars, starting at just $1, for their favorite team to win. The winning team’s composer will receive the first ever Chicago songSLAM commission prize:
$1,000 commission from Fourth Coast Ensemble
The funds that each team raises during the virtual event will be split 50/50 with the team and Fourth Coast Ensemble, who will use their portion to reinvest in future competitions and new art song initiatives. On May 31st, total funds raised will be announced on our website and social media, including the $1,000 commission prize.
Competition Rules:
1) Registration is $20 and opens HERE on Thursday, March 21, 2023 at 5pm CDT on a first-come, first-served basis. There is NO age limit. To learn more about Sparks and Wiry Cries, visit https://www.sparksandwirycries.org/songslam-events/2023/10/7/songslam-chicago.
2) Performance/Recording slots will be open to the 12 teams who register first; there will be up to 3 additional ‘alternate’ slots in the event of cancellations. Teams who do not successfully register in time to at least be an alternate will have their money refunded. Those on the alternate list will not have their fee immediately refunded; instead, they will have the choice to either stay on the list or be taken off, in which case their fee will be refunded.
3) Original compositions presented at the 2024 Chicago songSLAM must:
4) Songs should be approximately 5 minutes in length or fewer.
5) A composer can only submit ONE song for the event. Performers can only perform in ONE song for the event. While the composer and poet may also be a performer we strongly advise that teams be made up of at least three people to broaden the web of collaboration, creativity, and reach and depth of expertise.
6) Texts may be in any language. Be advised that if your registration is successful, and if your text will not be in the public domain on or before January 1, 2024, you will need to obtain permission from your poet, or from the trust of the poet if deceased. You must receive this permission before your team’s recording date of either Sunday, April 21, or Saturday, April 27, 2024, and present proof at or before your recording date.
7) Prize money for the live event is as follows: $1,000 for first place, $600 for second place, and $400 for third place. These prizes will be awarded by the live audience vote. See description of voting process above. Funds raised in the Virtual songSLAM (from May 14-31, 2024), will be split 50/50 between the respective team and our organization. Additionally, a $1,000 commission will be awarded to the composer of the winning team of the Virtual songSLAM.
8) Further prizes may be granted at the discretion of the Co-Artistic Directors of Sparks & Wiry Cries, including but not limited to: online publication and sales of selected songs, hosted through Sparks & Wiry Cries’ website; a commission prize for the composer of their choice; and possible inclusion in a songSLAM song book published through New Music Shelf.
9) Please note, regardless of premiere, publication, and recording, Sparks & Wiry Cries nor any partner institution will ever claim ownership of the music premiered at any songSLAM. The rights to the premiered works will remain solely with the artistic team that applied.
10) Composers must be present during the live performance.
Teams are encouraged to invite their friends and share the event as widely as possible, as all monetary prizes will be awarded by audience vote.
Further guidelines for the April 21/27 recording sessions:
1) Registration is $20 and opens HERE on Thursday, March 21, 2023 at 5pm CDT on a first-come, first-served basis. There is NO age limit. To learn more about Sparks and Wiry Cries, visit https://www.sparksandwirycries.org/songslam-events/2023/10/7/songslam-chicago.
2) Performance/Recording slots will be open to the 12 teams who register first; there will be up to 3 additional ‘alternate’ slots in the event of cancellations. Teams who do not successfully register in time to at least be an alternate will have their money refunded. Those on the alternate list will not have their fee immediately refunded; instead, they will have the choice to either stay on the list or be taken off, in which case their fee will be refunded.
3) Original compositions presented at the 2024 Chicago songSLAM must:
- Be composed for voice and piano
- Feature texts that are in the public domain or have written and signed permission from the author/trust
- Receive their world premiere on May 14, 2024
4) Songs should be approximately 5 minutes in length or fewer.
5) A composer can only submit ONE song for the event. Performers can only perform in ONE song for the event. While the composer and poet may also be a performer we strongly advise that teams be made up of at least three people to broaden the web of collaboration, creativity, and reach and depth of expertise.
6) Texts may be in any language. Be advised that if your registration is successful, and if your text will not be in the public domain on or before January 1, 2024, you will need to obtain permission from your poet, or from the trust of the poet if deceased. You must receive this permission before your team’s recording date of either Sunday, April 21, or Saturday, April 27, 2024, and present proof at or before your recording date.
7) Prize money for the live event is as follows: $1,000 for first place, $600 for second place, and $400 for third place. These prizes will be awarded by the live audience vote. See description of voting process above. Funds raised in the Virtual songSLAM (from May 14-31, 2024), will be split 50/50 between the respective team and our organization. Additionally, a $1,000 commission will be awarded to the composer of the winning team of the Virtual songSLAM.
8) Further prizes may be granted at the discretion of the Co-Artistic Directors of Sparks & Wiry Cries, including but not limited to: online publication and sales of selected songs, hosted through Sparks & Wiry Cries’ website; a commission prize for the composer of their choice; and possible inclusion in a songSLAM song book published through New Music Shelf.
9) Please note, regardless of premiere, publication, and recording, Sparks & Wiry Cries nor any partner institution will ever claim ownership of the music premiered at any songSLAM. The rights to the premiered works will remain solely with the artistic team that applied.
10) Composers must be present during the live performance.
Teams are encouraged to invite their friends and share the event as widely as possible, as all monetary prizes will be awarded by audience vote.
Further guidelines for the April 21/27 recording sessions:
- Recording times will be assigned according to the team members' availability between 4-8pm on either April 21 or 27. Every effort will be made to accommodate teams' scheduling requests.
- Teams will be allowed to record up to three takes of their piece; from those takes, teams may indicate their preference for online publication. Edits will not be made.
- Teams will receive access to their video content after the conclusion of the live competition (May 14, 2024) and not before.
- For a representative sample of SnoStudio Photo+Video's work in this space, click here.
artists
Stacy Garrop’s music is centered on dramatic and lyrical storytelling. Her catalog covers a wide range, with works for orchestra, opera, oratorio, wind ensemble, choir, art song, various sized chamber ensembles, and works for solo instruments. Recent commissions include Forging Steel for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Berko's Journey for the Omaha Symphony, In a House Besieged for The Crossing, The Battle for the Ballot for the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Goddess Triptych for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Spectacle of Light for the Music of the Baroque Orchestra. Notable past commissions include My Dearest Ruth for soprano and piano with text by Martin Ginsburg, the husband of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Glorious Mahalia for the Kronos Quartet, Give Me Hunger for Chanticleer, and Terra Nostra (oratorio), commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Society and Piedmont East Bay Children’s Chorus.
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Sparks & Wiry Cries 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. In 2017, Sparks grew to include the songSLAM competition and a commissioning program. Today our sparksLIVE events and 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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about our venueInspired by the fire pit council rings at Promontory Point, this neighborhood destination live entertainment venue and events space honors Hyde Park’s musical legacy and community spirit. With its modern design, crisp acoustics, and exciting music programming, The Promontory is dedicated to celebrating the eras when spacious ballrooms and jumping jazz clubs made Chicago’s South Side the capital of American music.
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