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Guest artists Martha Guth, soprano, and Erika Switzer, piano, perform a recital as part of a residency with the Department of Voice & Opera. Free and open to the public.

Juno nominated soprano MARTHA GUTH regularly presents concerts and recitals at major venues which include Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, The National Cathedral, Ravinia, and both Oxford Song and Leeds Lieder. Her interpretations have been called “Magical” (Opera Now); “Truly amazing” (Montreal Gazette) and “Thrilling” (Globe and Mail), and her concerts have been recorded and broadcast by the CBC Radio/Radio Canada, the BBC and the WDR in Germany.

As a young artist Martha won first prize at both the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and the Concours Musical International de Montréal, launching a performance career specializing in concert and song repertoire. Her deep interest in art song led her to co-found Sparks & Wiry Cries with pianist Erika Switzer, a non-profit dedicated to art song spanning publication, live performance, and commission of new works. Her discography includes Summer Night, a Juno nominated disc of songs by Healy Willan on Centrediscs; Das Ewig Weibliche, a solo disc of Schubert songs with Penelope Crawford on fortepiano; Roberto Sierra’s Beyond the Silence of Sorrow with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico for Naxos (nominated for a 2016 Latin GRAMMY); John Fitz-Roger’s Magna Mysteria for the Innova label; Go by Contraries, songs of Andrew Staniland with baritone Tyler Duncan and pianist Erika Switzer released on Centre Discs. Forthcoming is a disc for Naxos of Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Yakima Symphony.

Martha is Assistant Professor of Voice at Ithaca College, has been Co-Artistic Director of SongFest and Director of its Composer/Mentorship program and remains on faculty there. She has spent three summers on faculty at the Vocal Academy for The Collaborative Piano Institute and presented lectures, masterclasses and recitals at dozens of major universities throughout North America specializing in song literature spanning the 19th century to today.

ERIKA SWITZER is an accomplished collaborative pianist who performs regularly in major concert settings around the world, including at New York’s Weill Hall (Carnegie), Geffen Hall, Frick Collection, and Bargemusic, at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC). Her performances have been called “precise and lucid” by the New York Times, and Renaud Machart of Le Monde described her as “one of the best collaborative pianists I have ever heard; her sound is deep, her interpretation intelligent, refined, and captivating.”

From 2000-2007, Switzer performed and studied in Germany, an experience that profoundly inspired and shaped her work. During that time, she appeared at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and in the Munich Winners & Masters series and won numerous awards, including best pianist prizes at the Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Wigmore Hall International Song Competitions.

Switzer has long been a leader in envisioning and promoting the future of art song performance. In 2009, in collaboration with soprano Martha Guth, she founded the organization Sparks & Wiry Cries, which commissions new works, presents the songSLAM festival in New York City, and publishes The Art Song Magazine. She is also devoted to new music, and has recently premiered new compositions at the 5 Boroughs Music Festival, Brooklyn Art Song Society; and Vancouver’s Music on Main.

Switzer collaborates with a range of top singers. A frequent collaborator is baritone Tyler Duncan, and as a duo, Switzer and Duncan have performed in major concert halls and music festivals around the world. She is also an active teacher, serving on the music faculty at Bard College and Conservatory of Music. Switzer holds a doctorate from The Juilliard School and lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.

https://www.sparksandwirycries.org/