Daniel Neer to Perform GITCHEE GUMEE Song Cycle at Otterbein University

Daniel Neer will present a program of art songs at Riley Recital Hall in the Battelle Fine Arts Center on the campus of Otterbein University. This new multimedia recital plays one night only on Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30pm. Accompanying Daniel will be Columbus native and Otterbein University professor, pianist Dr. Suzanne Newcomb. The program will include the song cycle Gitchee Gumee, a collaboration between Neer and composer Jonathan David, that commemorates the 50th year anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. Also on the program is a world premiere of the song After All by composer Masatora Goya, and songs of celebrated American composer Marion Bauer and iconic French composer Gabriel Fauré. The multimedia recital will feature visuals by director Ted Gorodetzky and The LAB.

Also on the program is a world premiere of the song After All by New York-based composer Masatora Goya, written specifically for Neer. The new work is conceived as a pairing to Goya's song Call, also on the program, in which a multi-functioning Japanese onomatopoeic word is used to depict many layered emotions. "The sound world that Masatora Goya creates in his songs are both challenging and extremely rewarding for singers," explains Neer. "In his music, the performer is required to use all the colors of their voice, and the result is a rich texture that is always evolving"

Rounding out Neer's program are three songs by American iconoclast Marion Bauer, whose vocal work has been largely forgotten in recent decades, and five songs of the fêtes galantes collection of French composer Gabriel Fauré, inspired by the poetry of Paul Verlaine who in turn took inspiration from the paintings of Jean-Antoine Watteau.