Revered composer and singer-songwriter rediscovers our collective humanity in his celebratory ‘offline’ musical journeys to radical empathy
Vancouver, BC – Music on Main presents Gabriel Kahane’s deeply insightful albums Book of Travelers (BC premiere) and Magnificent Bird (Canadian premiere), on stage in consecutive performances on May 10 and 11, 2023 at 7:30pm at the ANNEX (823 Seymour Street). Hailed as “one the finest, most searching songwriters of the day” (The New Yorker), Kahane takes audiences on a hopeful musical journey towards radical empathy and the human connections he finds in quiet spaces between and beyond the digital silos of our online lives. Both distinct yet complementary song cycles were conceived and created three years apart during the artist’s self-imposed isolations from the internet and social media in 2016 and 2019.
“Gabriel Kahane is an extraordinary musician and storyteller,” says David Pay, Artistic Director of Music on Main. “His humour, compassion, and intelligence shine through in songs that speak directly to the listener’s heart. We’re delighted to bring Vancouver audiences this rare chance to hear his two amazing concerts back-to-back, both exploring detailed moments in life that are at times heart wrenching and full of hope.”
Kahane’s solo vocal and piano performance of Book of Travelers rediscovers and celebrates our collective humanity in the face of deep political and cultural divides. In the algorithmic rancour leading up to the 2016 US presidential election, Kahane felt a need to leave the digital world. Regardless of the outcome of the election, he decided he would board a train the next day and talk to strangers in unmediated, uninterrupted face-to-face encounters. Over 13 days, 31 states, 8,980 miles, and countless dining-car meals later, Kahane had engaged with more than 80 people from all walks of life, making songs from the stories he had heard. The resulting Book of Travelers, a collection of intimate and varied character sketches, is “an exercise in lyric beauty” (The New Yorker) and “a stunning portrait of a singular moment in America” (Rolling Stone).
Three years later in 2019, Kahane expanded his artistic quest to a year-long digital detox, sending him into in-person conversations with strangers until the pandemic redirected his journey inward towards his own self discovery and disclosure. In the final month of his internet hiatus, Kahane resolved to write one song every day. His ensuing fifth solo album, Magnificent Bird is “a gorgeous, intimate collection of ten musical snapshots” (San Francisco Chronicle) that are at once deeply personal and universal. Kahane will be joined in this performance by Vancouver’s new Capilano String Quartet, featuring violinists Timothy Steeves and Jae-Won Bang, Marina Thibeault on viola, and Jonathan Lo on cello.
Kahane made his Canadian debut with Music on Main in 2010. The American composer and singer-songwriter has since returned to the city and the company often, further strengthening his close ties and friendships in the Vancouver music scene.
Adds Pay, “We’re delighted to welcome Gabe back to Vancouver for these performances and for his upcoming Artist in Residence with Music on Main.”
During Kahane’s week-long residency, he will compose new work for the musicians of The Tempest Project Company, which will premiere at The Tempest Project in 2024. The Tempest Project is a new immersive production led by Music on Main Artistic Director David Pay. Kahane will also rehearse with the Capilano String Quartet in preparation for the performance of Magnificent Bird.
A sought-after composer of concert works, Kahane has recently appeared with the St. Louis Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony, which presented emergency shelter intake form, Kahane’s 2018 oratorio exploring inequality through the lens of housing issues. In November 2022 he returned to the Oregon Symphony, where he has served as Creative Chair since 2018, as soloist in his new song cycle The Right to Be Forgotten, a further exploration—begun with Magnificent Bird—of the increasingly fraught relationship between technology and humanity.
His creative collaborators range from Phoebe Bridgers, Paul Simon, Sylvan Esso, Chris Thile, and Sufjan Stevens to Caroline Shaw, Anthony McGill, Pekka Kuusisto, and the Attacca Quartet. His prose has appeared in The New Yorker online and in The New York Times.
Kahane is the recipient of a 2021 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He recently relocated from New York to Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his family and has just begun his second term as Creative Chair of the Oregon Symphony.
For tickets and further information about Book of Travelers, visit: musiconmain.ca
For tickets and further information about Magnificent Bird, visit: musiconmain.ca
About Music on Main (musiconmain.ca)
Music on Main has developed an international reputation as one of today’s leading-edge classical and contemporary music programmers. Their goal is to create informal, intimate experiences of great music and great musicians with our audience. Music on Main has produced more than 700 events featuring in excess of 1,800 musicians and 130 world premieres at Heritage Hall on Main Street, the now-closed Cellar Restaurant and Jazz Club in Kitsilano, and venues throughout Metro Vancouver. The music has touched the souls of thousands of listeners, and has helped artists from around the world connect with each other, and with Vancouver audiences.
| LISTING INFORMATION | Music on Main presents Gabriel Kahane’s Book of Travelers |
| Dates: | May 10, 2023 at 7:30pm |
| Ticket Prices: | Pay What You Will ($18 – $79) |
| Address: | ANNEX 823 Seymour Street, Vancouver |
| Box Office: | musiconmain.ca |
| LISTING INFORMATION | Music on Main presents Gabriel Kahane’s Magnificent Bird |
| Dates: | May 11, 2023 at 7:30pm |
| Ticket Prices: | Pay What You Will ($18 – $79) |
| Address: | ANNEX 823 Seymour Street, Vancouver |
| Box Office: | musiconmain.ca |
| Website: | musiconmain.ca |
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