Kahane | Book of Travelers: Friends of Friends of Bill | Eric Christopher Perry & Christina Spurling

Gabriel Kahane
Book of Travelers: Friends of Friends of Bill
October 2020

A recital by tenor Eric Christopher Perry and pianist Christina Spurling explores the human condition through the lens of train travel – across two continents and two nationalistic eras. Benjamin Britten’s Winter Words, Op. 52 (1956) evocatively depicts “a world unknown” with selections of final poems by English novelist Thomas Hardy, whose multitude of works are featured in Colby College’s Special Collections. Gabriel Kahane’s Book of Travelers (2017) captures conversations with fellow passengers while on a cathartic cross-country train ride immediately following the controversial 2016 United States presidential election. An emotional journey about journeys, this program illustrates stories of boundaries beyond geographical borders: racial, socioeconomic, political, and generational.

Filmed & edited by Peter Logue
Audio recorded & mixed by Zach Soares