Songwriting Kahane's style is often compared to
Sufjan Stevens and
Rufus Wainwright and he has collaborated with both of these artists. Kahane released a self-titled album,
Gabriel Kahane, on Family Records in 2008, receiving positive reviews. In September 2011, Kahane released his second singer-songwriter album,
Where Are The Arms, on StorySound Records. It was recorded with many of his regular collaborators, including
Rob Moose on violin and guitar,
Matt Johnson on drums, and Casey Foubert, who also helped mix and produce it, on various instruments. These three musicians would also collaborate with him on his next album,
The Ambassador. For his 2014 album,
The Ambassador, he used ten addresses in L.A. to write songs from the perspectives of characters both real and imaginary. The album was featured in
Rolling Stone,
Vogue, and
Paste, and Kahane also wrote a piece about exploring L.A. through music for
The New Yorker. The album was staged by Tony Award winner
John Tiffany with set design by Tony Award winner
Christine Jones at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music and
Carolina Performing Arts in the fall of 2014 and at
University of California, Los Angeles in the spring of 2015. The song "Empire Liquor Mart (9127 S. Figueroa St.)" from
The Ambassador was selected by
NPR as one of their NPR Music's Favorite Songs of 2014. After the 2016 election, he embarked on a cross-country train trip that yielded the 2018 album
Book of Travelers.
Composing and performance Kahane's best-known work, the song cycle
Craigslistlieder, which was his first concert work and was re-released by
indie record label Family Records in 2008, sets real
Craigslist ads to music. Other artists have covered this voice-and-piano piece, and
Audra McDonald has included
Craigslistlieder in her standard repertoire. Kahane performed regularly at
Rockwood Music Hall, where he had artistic residencies beginning as early as 2009. In the spring of 2010, Gabriel Kahane performed as part of the
American Songbook at
Lincoln Center, garnering praise from the
New York Times. During the 2010–11 season, he performed with cellist
Alisa Weilerstein in a duo recital featuring music composed by Kahane, including ''Little Sleep's Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight
. After writing a piano concerto for Natasha Paremski, he was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet to write The Red Book'', a string quartet based on
Anne Carson's
Autobiography of Red, and by the
Los Angeles Philharmonic for a large chamber work.
Crane Palimpsest, a work about the Brooklyn Bridge, was conducted by Kahane's father,
Jeffrey Kahane, conducting the
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. As part of his 2012–2013 residency with the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Kahane wrote ''Gabriel's Guide to the 48 States'' inspired by the
American Guide Series, commissioned by the government during the
Great Depression. The piece received its New York Premiere at
Carnegie Hall in April 2013 with Orpheus playing and Kahane singing. In 2016, he was a soloist with the
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. Other notable compositions include
Come On All You Ghosts, a three-part song cycle setting
Matthew Zapruder's poetry for a baritone and string quartet, and he frequently performs and records with such artists as
Timo Andres,
Brooklyn Rider,
Rob Moose,
Punch Brothers, and
Chris Thile. In August 2019 he was appointed Creative Chair of the
Oregon Symphony in Portland, Oregon.
Musical theater Gabriel Kahane began to work in theater in New York City after winning a
Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Award for
Straight Man, which he wrote in college. He worked with New York theater company
Les Freres Corbusier, music directing
A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant and the LA production of
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson for Michael Friedman and
Alex Timbers. His musical
February House, commissioned by
The Public Theater, told the story of a
Brooklyn World War II-era commune, where
W.H. Auden,
Gypsy Rose Lee,
Benjamin Britten,
Peter Pears,
Carson McCullers,
Jane Bowles, and
Paul Bowles all lived together. His album
The Ambassador was staged at
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2014–2015 by Tony Award winner
John Tiffany with set design by Tony Award winner
Christine Jones. Kahane has been commissioned by the
Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) and
The Public Theater in New York City and is currently under commission for new pieces for both theaters. In September 2024, Kahane performed two of his albums,
Book of Travelers and
Magnificent Bird, in rep at
Playwrights Horizons in New York City.
Elevator Songs with Roomful of Teeth In April 2026, Kahane and
Roomful of Teeth released
Elevator Songs a high concept album centered on the elevator of an imaginary, multidimensional hotel and its occupants. == Personal life ==