Since the inaugural songSLAM of 2016 in NYC, our first come, first served registration has filled in under 15 minutes of opening, and our 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. Our 2024 NYC songSLAM event is produced in partnership with National Sawdust.

Every year Sparks & Wiry Cries awards a songSLAM commission prize, which includes a world premiere performance, to one of the composers from the previous NYC songSLAM. This year’s commission, Anger in Open Mouths: Three Sweet Songs by composer Laura Nevitt and poet Viviana Gill, will be performed by mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski and pianist Erika Switzer.