"We Went to Paris in Our Apartment" Music and Text by Meg Huskin Featuring Alannah Spencer, soprano Jennifer Allor, piano This performance was a finalist in the 2nd Annual Chicago songSLAM, co-presented by Fourth Coast Ensemble and Spark & Wiry Cries on April 11, 2021. The performance was recorded at Le Piano jazz bar in Chicago, IL. Video by SnoStudios. Audio by FermataLab. "We Went to Paris in Our Apartment" Flights are cancelled overseas. Partial refund. No one leaves. We unpack our bags and heave a sigh, And kiss our tourist dreams goodbye. And things are bleak. So much for romance. We hold our breath beneath our mask. We couldn’t go to Paris this year, So we took Paris and brought it here. We Googled art from the Louvre, And danced Can-Can like Moulin Rouge. The downstairs neighbors hate us, But that’s just cuz they ain’t us. At least in our imagination, We redefine stay-cation. Chorus: We sipped lattes and Keurig Cafe. We scrolled along the digital Seine. We wore berets on Barry Street, And went to Paris in our apartment. We saw a film on - How you say? Disnee Plus? About a rat that learned to cook. We drank champagne and no one needs to know We got it on sale at Trader Joe’s. You might call it gauche, But I just raise a toast! And when I looked up from my charcuterie board, I thought to myself “How could I ever get bored With someone who builds cityscapes in tiny rooms? If I’m stuck in Chicago, I’m glad it’s with you.” MEG HUSKIN is a multi-hyphenate musician with roots in Chicago and Wisconsin. As a composer, Meg often explores language, storytelling, and character. Her compositions have been heard most recently with Lynx Project’s 2020 Autism Advocacy Series and she won Second Prize at SongSLAM Chicago 2019. Most most recently, she’s been surviving a pandemic, and exploring online fan communities by writing a TikTok Musical based on a fictional dead werewolf, which has been received positively by her thousands of followers. This Fall, Meg will enter the Masters of Composition program at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Soprano ALANNAH SPENCER is a natural story-teller at ease in both operatic and song repertoire. Alannah has an affinity for performing overlooked operatic gems. Most recently, she portrayed Luise in Eugen d’Aubert’s rarely seen comedic opera Die Abreise with Evanston Chamber Opera. Never one to forsake the classics, Alannah has performed Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Sandman in Hansel and Gretel. Alannah is the vocalist for the voice and percussion duo VoxBox, and is a founding member of the feminist opera collective the Valkyrie Ensemble. Pianist JENNIFER ALLOR made her orchestral debut with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in 2002 and with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra in 2005. She has studied with many distinguished teachers including Thomas Otten and Daniel Shapiro. She holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An active performer and chamber musician, she regularly performs in the Chicagoland area with her sister, soprano Emily Rebecca Smith.

from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner Voice/Clarinet/Wardrobe/Catering/subtitles- Alannah Spencer Director/Cinematographer/Sound Engineer/Pretty much everything else- Andrew Baldwin

From Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky Recorded 9/30/2020 Soprano- Alannah Spencer Pre-recorded piano- Shane McFadden