What is a songSLAM?

The Sparks & Wiry Cries songSLAM is a unique and energizing community event for composer/performer teams to premiere new art songs and compete for cash prizes.

Each team presents a new song of no more than 5 minutes for voice and piano, in any language, for the voting audience, who—in the poetry slam tradition—will then vote on their favorites and award prize money to the winning competitors!

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.

We are excited to announce the publication of the songSLAM Songbook, vol. 1, now available from New Music Shelf. The anthology contains sixteen pieces debuted at seven of our songSLAM competitions. The songbook, curated by Erika Switzer and Martha Guth, is a selection of the most promising songs premiered since its inception. Many of them were prize winners, though not all.

NYC songSLAM 2025

Building on the success of the last four years’ added virtual component, we will incorporate both recorded and live elements into the 2025 NYC songSLAM. For this hybrid format, all teams will have their entry professionally recorded on November 24-25, 2024, AND all teams will perform in the live songSLAM event at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on February 7, 2025, at 7:30 pm. The recording will take place at the Blue Building in NYC and the live performance will take place at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.

Registration opens on October 16th at 6.00pm ET!