songSLAM
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 co-presented with regional partners in four countries and 13 different cities around the globe: NYC, Toronto, Vancouver, Bloomington, Tallahassee, Rochester, London, Ljubljana, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Waco, with even more growth on the horizon.
The 10th Annual NYCsongSLAM
is coming February 2026!
Registration opens on MONDAY, November 17th, at 6pm ET on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested musicians should head to the page linked below when registration goes live!
Please note that registration typically fills up within 30 minutes – be ready to sign up as soon as it opens!
We are excited to announce that songSLAM Songbook, Volume 2 will be available soon
from New Music Shelf!
Volume 1 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.