MELTDOWN | A Note on Greenland...

Program Notes
Written By Sparks & Wiry Cries

A Note on Greenland...

As our 2025 sparksLIVE co-production with Vital Opera, Meltdown, takes place in Greenland, we felt the following would be helpful to know:

  • Population: 56,000 people, living in 20% of the country not covered by ice

  • Heritage: The majority of the population are descendants of Thule (proto-Inuit) culture

  • Language: Greenlandic (an Inuit–Yupik–Unangan language)

  • Governance: Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark with its own parliament and government.

  • Economy: Fishing is the most important driver of Greenland’s economy. Some, but not all, Greenlandic politicians hope to gain independence from Denmark and to have mining become a draw for foreign investment.

  • Environment & Climate Change: Human-driven CO2 emissions are warming the planet.

  • The Arctic is heating four times faster than the global average.

  • If fully melted, the Greenland ice sheet would raise sea levels by 24 feet.

  • This will take centuries, but even small losses cause major coastal impacts.

  • Today, Greenland’s ice loss is the leading driver of sea level rise.

Suggested resources for further reading:

NASA Climate change information
Copernicus Climate Services, a European site
NOAA’s Arctic Report Card

Sparks & Wiry Cries

Named in reference to a poem by Paul Goodman, Sparks & Wiry Cries began in 2009 as a podcast and online magazine with a vision to contextualize art song in the sharing of recordings, interviews, and articles by prominent artists and scholars. In 2012, the Casement Fund, Ltd. encouraged co-founders Martha Guth and Erika Switzer to expand their vision and curate an art song recital series based in New York City. In 2015, Sparks received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and grew to include the songSLAM competition and a commissioning program. Today, through our international songSLAMs. sparksLIVE events and Art Song Magazine, we are actively engaging in current conversations through insightful publishing, programming, and commissioning.

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