The story of this show alone, sold it for me. The day after the contentious 2016 presidential election, Gabriel Kahane boarded an Amtrak train and journeyed cross-country, seeking inspiration (consolation?) from those he encountered. The result was "Book of Travelers," a performance piece featuring beautiful video set to original songs he wrote about the lives of fellow travelers, and a meditation on contemporary life in America. This works for me on so many levels - travel, art, music, anthropology.
My assignment was to cover the final dress rehearsal before that evening's world premier performance at BAM's Harvey Theater, a historic theater a block from their main music hall. I had 360-degree angles, complete access and an empty theater, save for a few staff and Kahane's meticulous audio and video team. I've covered many live orchestrated video performances at BAM (and I love the medium), but this performance was fantastic and an incredible treat to shoot, with four massive projection screens perfectly in sync behind the artist, and a dramatic UFO-like light sequence that I'm sure grabbed the attention of everyone in the house that evening.
An image from the set accompanied Jon Pareles' review that ran in the New York Times that Saturday. Three other images were licensed by Yamaha Pianos, where Gabriel is a sponsored artist.