Elisheva Pront

Kim Zhang, piano Saman Shahi, composer Titilope Sonuga, poet

______________________________________ *Team 4: Laundry Day* Meg Huskin, composer & poet Elisheva Pront, soprano Jialiang Li, piano To vote for this team, text SLAMTEAM4 to 44-321, or click: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/art-song-magazine-inc/nyc-songslam-2025-team-4 ______________________________________ *LAUNDRY DAY* I WANNA TAKE THE WORLD BY THE SCRUFF OF ITS BLOODSTAINED COLLAR. I WANNA BALL IT IN MY FAT FIST AND DRAG IT DOWN ‘TIL WE’RE NOSE TO NOSE. I WANNA TELL THE WORLD TO CLEAN UP ITS ACT. I WON’T BE MADE A FOOL. I WILL NOT BE SCRAPED INTO AN OCEAN OF MUNDANITY, LIKE A BARNACLE OFF THE SIDE OF A BOAT. I WILL NOT CALCIFY. I WILL NOT HIDE MY SOFT UNDERBELLY. I WILL NOT SAND DOWN MY KNIVES FOR THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD’S DISPLEASURE. SO FIX YOUR FACE, AND PUT ON A CLEAN SHIRT. I WANNA WATCH THE WORLD’S HANDS TREMBLE AS IT UNFASTENS A ROW OF BUTTONS. I WANNA SEE IT DRESSED DOWN. I WANNA WASH THE WORLD’S LAUNDRY AND BURY IT ON THE BEACH. WATCH IT SLIP THROUGH MY FINGERS LIKE SAND. I WANNA FIND SOMETHING NEW - SOMETHING SOLID, SOMETHING SOFT - WAITING FOR ME AT HOME, WITH JAW FRESHLY TRIMMED. I WANT TO SEE MY CLAW MARKS ON ITS EXPOSED THROAT. I WANT TO CLOSE MY TEETH ROUND THAT INFIRM PEACE AND SWALLOW IT. — Meg Huskin _______________________________________ *Team 4 Bios:* *Meg Huskin* creates music of characteristic voice, embracing theatricality, genre-blending, and intertextuality. Recently, she premiered two operatic works: _My Dearest Jane_ , with libretto curated from Jane Austen texts, and _Rabbit Season_ , an original story about sisterhood. Meg co-founded TellTale Opera Theatre, a nonprofit dedicated to development of opera in Baltimore. *Jialiang Li* began piano at age four, instructed by Mr. He Han and Nikolai Kryranov. He studied at Xinghai Conservatory and the Liszt Conservatory in Germany. After obtaining his graduate degree, he attended the Peabody Institute. Currently, he is a first-year DMA student at the University of Arizona. *Elisheva Pront* is a vocalist and stage director who collaborates with composers to perform and direct new music. Co-founder of TellTale Opera Theatre in Baltimore, she focuses on expanding the bounds of opera. Elisheva was recently an Assistant Director at Opera North and finalist in the Colorado Bach Ensemble’s competition. _______________________________________ Presented by _Sparks & Wiry Cries_ for sparksLIVE 2025: https://www.sparksandwirycries.org/2025 Filmed November 24-25, 2024, at the Blue Building, New York City. _Sparks & Wiry Cries_ gratefully acknowledges that all of our events take place on the unceded territory of the Munsee Lenape and Wappinger peoples. We honor and pay respect to their ancestors past and present, as well as to future generations and we recognize their continuing presence in their homelands. Audio/Video: Becca Fox, DP; Ian Striedter, Audio Engineer; Neville Braithwaite, Editor songSLAM Production: Victoria Browers Administrative support: Maeve Berry, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, Jardena Gertler-Jaffe _Sparks & Wiry Cries_ : Co-Founded & Co-Directed by Martha Guth & Erika Switzer

Elisheva Pront, voice Adeline DeBella, flute Brian Riordan, audio engineer Emmanuel Berrido, video New Music on the Point Festival 2024 Leicester, VT

Elisheva Pront, voice Jialiang Li, piano Francis Poulenc, composer Guillaume Apollinaire, French poetry from Banalités Govans Presbyterian Church Baltimore, MD

Elisheva Pront, voice Eris Quartet: Maya Irizarry, violin Amina Knapp, violin Felix Veser, viola Daniel Knapp, cello Brian Riordan, audio engineer Emmanuel Berrido, video Osvaldo Golijov, composer from Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra New Music on the Point Festival 2024 Leicester, VT

NEXT Ensemble, Peabody Conservatory Dr. Beth Willer, conductor Elisheva Pront, soprano September 2022, Baltimore MD

Elisheva Pront, soprano Jialiang Li, piano Marie Herrington, composer Ukrainian text by Lesya Ukrainka Premiered at Source Song Festival in Minneapolis MN August 2023 Recorded by Wild Sound Recording Studios

Sueños Music by Martín Medrano 0:00 - I. Una noche vacía 2:19 - II. Nada 3:17 - III. Poker 6:05 - IV. Verso Elisheva Pront, soprano Martín Medrano, violin MOSTLY MODERN FESTIVAL Skidmore College, Arthur Zankel Music Hall Saratoga Springs, New York (USA) 6/20/2023 LINKS Festival: https://www.mostlymodernfestival.org Ensembles-In-Residence: https://mostlymodernfestival.org/ensembles-in-residence Recorded by Arts Laureate: https://www.artslaureate.com