Gabriel Kahane to Return to BAM with 8980: BOOK OF TRAVELERS This Fall

Gabriel Kahane returns to BAM with 8980: Book of Travelers, directed by Daniel Fish with scenic and video design by Jim Findlay, running November 30 - December 2, 2017.

On the day after the 2016 presidential election, Gabriel Kahane embarked - with no cell phone or other internet-connected device - on a looping, 8,980-mile railway journey through the United States. Over the course of two weeks, he broke bread with dozens of strangers whose stories are woven into Kahane's new song cycle, 8980: Book of Travelers.

Written and performed by Kahane (vocals and keyboards), and conceived in collaboration with director Daniel Fish and designer Jim Findlay (scenic and video design) with lighting by Mark Barton, this solo concert - presented in its world premiere - is a personal yet expansive meditation on the idiosyncrasies and anachronisms of train travel, which simultaneously grapples with the wrenching reality of a divided country.

Singer-songwriter and composer Gabriel Kahane has recorded critically-acclaimed albums including The Ambassador (called "one of the year's best" by Rolling Stone); The Fiction Issue, an album of his chamber music with string quartet Brooklyn Rider; and Where Are the Arms. The staged version of The Ambassador, directed by Tony-winner John Tiffany, was presented by BAM (2014 Next Wave), CAP UCLA, and Carolina Performing Arts. As a composer of concert works, Kahane has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with whom he toured his WPA-inspired Gabriel's Guide to the 48 States in 2013. He has appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and A Far Cry. An avid theater artist, Kahane's musical February House, with playwright Seth Bockley, premiered at The Public Theater in 2012 and was recorded by the StorySound label. A two-time MacDowell Colony fellow, Kahane has performed and/or recorded with artists ranging from Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, Blake Mills, Chris Thile, and Brad Mehldau, to Jeremy Denk, yMusic, and John Adams. He is a graduate of Brown University and resides in Brooklyn.

Daniel Fish is a New York-based director who makes work across the boundaries of theater, film, and opera. He draws on a broad range of forms and subject matter including plays, film scripts, contemporary fiction, essays, and found audio. His recent work includes Don't Look Back (The Chocolate Factory), Who Left This Fork Here (Baryshnikov Arts Center, Onassis Center/Athens), Ted Hearne's The Source (2014 Next Wave, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera), Oklahoma! (Bard Summerscape), and Eternal. Fish's work has been seen at theaters and festivals throughout the US and Europe including Walker Arts Center, PuSH, The Chocolate Factory, Public Theater's Under The Radar, Opera Philadelphia/Curtis Opera Theater, American Repertory Theater, Richard B. Fisher Center at Bard College, Yale Repertory Theater, Signature Theater, Du?sseldorfer Schauspielhaus, and Royal Shakespeare Company. His residencies and commissions include the MacDowell Colony, Baryshnikov Arts Center, MASS MoCA, The Chocolate Factory, Bushwick Starr, and LMCC/Governor's Island. A graduate of Northwestern University's Department of Performance Studies, Fish has taught at The Juilliard School, Bard College, and the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU/Tisch. He is the recipient of the 2017 Herb Alpert Award for Theater. His upcoming work includes Michael Gordon's opera, Acquanetta for the Prototype Festival and Leonard Bernstein's A Quiet Place for Curtis Opera Theater. Visit www.danielfish.net for more.

Jim Findlay works across boundaries as a director, designer, visual artist, filmmaker, and performer. He was a founding member of the Collapsable Giraffe and in partnership with Radiohole founded the Collapsable Hole, a multi-disciplinary, artist-led performance venue in Manhattan. Findlay is a frequent collaborator with Bang on a Can, Ralph Lemon, Ridge Theater, Daniel Fish, and Stew and Heidi Rodewald. He worked with the Wooster Group as a company member and designer from 1994-2003. Recent original productions include Vine of the Dead, Dream of The Red Chamber, and Botanica (writer and director); David Lang's Whisper Opera (director and designer), and Love Fail (set and video design, 2012 Next Wave); Annie Dorsen's A Piece of Work (set and video design, 2013 Next Wave), and David T. Little/Royce Vavrek's Dog Days (set and video design). In 2016 Findlay received a Creative Capital Award for his newest project, Electric Lucifer. His residencies have included Baryshnikov Arts Center, Ucross, MASS MoCA, and Mount Tremper Arts.

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafe? are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn's only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafe?, operated by Great Performances, offers varied light fare and bar service prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances.

Performances will run at the BAM Harvey Theater, Nov 30-Dec 2 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $30, 45 (weekday); $35, 50 (weekend). For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.

Photo Credit: Gabriel Kahane

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