Sparks & Wiry Cries & National Sawdust Present

ONLY VOICE REMAINS

“Only Voice Remains” is a new sparksLIVE project co-curated by Sparks & Wiry Cries and composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh. The project will be presented at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY on January 20, 2024.

Nourbakhsh’s program (inspired by Forugh Farrokhzad’s poem of the same name) explores themes of exile, loss, and migration, using a diverse range of vocal traditions rooted in Iran and neighboring regions. The music explores the intersection of Persian Flamenco, contemporary singer-songwriters, and Iranian classical music, all intertwined with the Western classical recital format. Also highlighted on the program is the landay — a poetic folk couplet shared by Pashtun women that exists primarily through oral tradition. In a setting by Juhi Bansal for soprano, piano, and cello, these poems in English translation highlight similar motifs of struggle and triumph, echoing down generations from woman to woman.

Performers on this program include:
Mahya Hamedi (vocalist), Ava Nazar (pianist), Farnaz Ohadi (vocalist), Karen Ouzounian (cellist, courtesy of Silk Road Ensemble), Gaspar Rodriguez (guitarist), and Abigail Sinclair (soprano).

songSLAM COMPETITION

On January 19, 2024, we are thrilled to host our 8th annual songSLAM competition in New York, this time produced in partnership with National Sawdust! Fashioned after traditional poetry slams and storytelling events like The Moth, each songSLAM 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.

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.