An Evening from the Queer Songbook: A Conversation with Taylor Mac and Matt Ray
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
7:30 PM
BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)
30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Scheduled
About This Event
Taylor Mac, a playwright, performer and MacArthur "Genius" who has received the Ibsen Award, appears at BAM in a conversation drawn from the Queer Songbook alongside Matt Ray. The program foregrounds Mac's blend of theater and song—including recurring concerns with chosen family and the holiday season as in Holiday Sauce—and considers those practices in relation to queer musical repertories.
About An Evening from the Queer Songbook: A Conversation with Taylor Mac and Matt Ray
At BAM, playwright and performer Taylor Mac joins musician Matt Ray for a talk-and-song program drawn from the Queer Songbook. Mac, a MacArthur Fellow and recipient of the Ibsen Award, frames the material through stories about chosen family, performance as survival, and the rituals that gather people through the holiday season. The event is free, closer to a public conversation than a standard concert. One clear takeaway is how Mac treats the songbook as an archive of community memory, not just repertoire.
About the Artists
An Evening from the Queer Songbook: A Conversation
An Evening from the Queer Songbook: A Conversation is a BAM appearance built around Taylor Mac and longtime collaborator Matt Ray, centered on Mac’s work as a playwright-performer and MacArthur Fellow and Ibsen Award recipient.
Taylor Mac and Matt Ray
Taylor Mac is a playwright and performance artist whose work moves between theater, song, and devised stage ritual, with a MacArthur Fellowship and the Ibsen Award among their major recognitions. At BAM in Brooklyn, Mac appears in conversation and performance drawn from the Queer Songbook, alongside pianist and collaborator Matt Ray.
Taylor Mac
Taylor Mac, a visionary in the world of theater, brings an innovative and heartwarming touch to New York City's vibrant cultural landscape. Known for their exceptional talents as a playwright, performer, and singer-songwriter, Mac captivates audiences with productions that explore deep themes with humor and sensitivity.
Matt Ray
Matt Ray is a New York–based musician and collaborator whose work moves between theater, song, and live accompaniment. At BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), he has appeared with Taylor Mac for *An Evening from the Queer Songbook: A Conversation with Taylor Mac and Matt Ray*, supporting a program that draws on Mac’s Queer Songbook and its themes of chosen family and seasonal ritual.