Daniel Keeling

“Daniel is a fine musician who distinguishes himself as one who possesses solid vocal technique, which is both beautiful and expressive."  

Philip Glass, composer

SOCIAL HANDLES

@mrdanielkeeling on Twitter and Instragram (also @danielkeelingII on Twitter)
| Daniel Keeling on Facebook

bio link tool

https://linktr.ee/DanielKeeling

NATIVE OF

Topeka, KS (USA)

PRESENT RESIDENces

Irvine, CA (USA)

Berlin DE — European Union (via New York City)

Education

Master of Music and Master of Fine Arts in Drama—Musical Theatre | University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | Master of Music 2007

Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Music | Wichita State University | Wichita, Kansas USA | Bachelor of Music 1996 | Honors: Cum Laude

ABOUT

Daniel Keeling — a versatile performing artist, educator, and voice teacher — possesses wide-ranging expertise in interpreting and instructing various genres of repertoire. From music theatre and classical music to contemporary commercial music (CCM), he adeptly navigates and imparts knowledge across these diverse styles. Keeling’s performances in various sung theatre and music genres have graced esteemed international stages, festivals, venues, and concert halls, contributing to a growing recognition for his work.

Keeling serves as a background vocalist for prominent German pop artist Sarah Connor, just coming off her SOMMER OPEN AIR '23 TOUR in September. He actively promoted her new Christmas album, NOT SO SILENT NIGHT in 2022, through various media appearances in Germany and Switzerland. A live show production played at Berlin's Verti Music Hall and broadcast as a national TV Christmas special. Additionally, he features in Connor's hit video, "Ring Out The Bells." Keeling is gearing up for her NOT SO SILENT NIGHT TOUR in December 2023, spanning 11 major arenas and sports halls across Germany. He also toured with Connor during her HERZ KRAFT WERKE Spring and Summer Tours 2022, building upon the success of her HERZ KRAFT WERKE Autumn Tour 2019. So far, all tours total to about 81 performances, reaching tens of thousands of audiences across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Notable venues and arenas included Waldbühne Berlin, Olympiahalle München, LANXESS Arena Köln, Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin, and Barclaycard Arena Hamburg — which was the location for the recording of the Sarah Connor "HERZ KRAFT WERKE Live" Album (DVD/Blu-Ray/CD).

As a formidable interpreter and champion of modern and contemporary classical works, Daniel has worked with composer Philip Glass and the late poet/songwriter Leonard Cohen on their critically acclaimed and commercially recorded song cycle, BOOK OF LONGING. This captivating piece has garnered international acclaim and performed on notable stages worldwide.

Roles portrayed in contemporary operas are Dewain in David Adams' I WAS LOOKING AT THE CEILING AND THEN I SAW THE SKY at Il Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and A Slave, à la Greek Chorus, in David Lang's DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING A FIELD at Peak Performances@Montclair University.  Furthermore, he performed Crown in George Gershwin's PORGY AND BESS at the prestigious Sächsische Staatsoper "Semperoper" (Dresden DE), Komische Oper (Berlin DE), Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), and Theater 11 (Zürich CH) with New York Harlem Theatre. Keeling’s repertoire also encompasses modern works by composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Harry Partch, and Kurt Weill.

Notable standard opera roles include Figaro in Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Giorgio Germont in Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA, La Voce in Mozart’s IDOMENEO, Oroveso in Bellini’s NORMA, and Escamillo in Bizet’s CARMEN. Musical theatre credits include Joe/ensemble in ON THE TOWN, Benjamin in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, Fred in SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, and swing/ensemble of the 1st and 2nd National Tours of the 1994 Broadway Revival of SHOW BOAT.

Keeling was featured soloist with New Zealand's Auckland Chamber Orchestra in SHOSTAKOVICH’S 14TH SYMPHONY, joined the Bielefelder Philharmoniker in its presentation of THE MOTOWN SOUL SYMPHONY and THE MICHAEL JACKSON SYMPHONY EXPERIENCE, performed in two installments of Robert Beitsch's SOULDANCE at the renowned Admialspalast (Berlin DE), and held two residencies at Berlin's A-Trane Jazz Club with JC Dook's All-Stars’ A SOULFUL BEATLES and MY MOTOWN SOUL (recorded commercially). Additionally, he was the lead singer of the innovative jazz/pop group Deja Nova Trio, crafting 20 original songs.

Daniel Keeling has performed in the following countries: Holland, Spain, Italy, Taiwan, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, Hungary, New Zealand, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Austria, and Switzerland, at many of their prestigious venues and festivals. These include Baden Baden Festspielhaus (DE), Open Air Wien (OE), Rhein-Main Congress Center Wiesbaden (DE), Open Air Festwiese Apolda (DE), Open Air Wien, Volkspark Mainz, Open Air Dresden (DE), Barockgarten am Festspielhaus Füssen (DE), Schlossplatz Coburg(DE), Open Air Schlossgarten Bruchsal (DE), Viva Vechta Open Air (DE), Open Air Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg (DE), Open Air Sparkassen Park Mönchengladbach (DE), OWL Arena Halle/Westfalen (DE), Schloss Herrenhausen Hannover (DE), Willy-Brandt Platz Bremerhaven (DE), Festhalle Frankfurt (DE), Arena Leipzig (DE), Porsche-Arena Stuttgart(DE), ÖVB Arena Bremen (DE), Wunderino Arena Kiel (DE), Hallenstadion Zürich (CH), Wiener Stadthalle Wien (OE), Noord Nederlands Orkest De Ooterpoort (NL), Wales Millennium Centre (UK), Spoleto USA, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall (Budapest), Ravinia Festival (Chicago), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Lincoln Center's Rose Theater (New York City), the Barbican Centre (London), National Theater Concert Hall of Taiwan (Taipei), New Zealand International Arts Festival (Wellington NZ), Festival Internazionale di Villa Adriana (Tivoli IT), Scripps Performing Arts Center in Claremont (California USA), Torino/Milano Musicale Festival Internazionale della Musica (IT), University of Texas Performing Arts Center (Austin, TX USA), Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts (Australia), Melbourne International Arts Festival (Australia), Stanford Lively Arts (California USA), Madrid Autumn Festival (ES), Olympic Badminton Theatre (Athens GR), and the Sydney Opera House.

In addition to his performing, Daniel Keeling is an assistant professor in the Drama Department of UC Irvine, instructing voice. Prior to joining UCI, Daniel operated a vocal studio comprising 25 private vocal students around Germany. Also, he taught music as a subject at a few primary and secondary schools (grade, middle, and high schools) in Berlin, Germany. As a voice teacher and coach, he guides his students in musical and dramatic interpretation, fosters healthy vocal production and technique, and assists in audition preparation. As stated above, Keeling's instruction covers a diverse range of musical genres — musical theatre, opera, classical music, jazz, and contemporary commercial music — and he is a champion of THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK.

Daniel is a proud native of Kansas. He is an alumnus of Wichita State University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Always a New Yorker at heart, Daniel considers Berlin and now Irvine, CA his home.

Reviews

Book of Longing (Glass)

“…Daniel Keeling’s bass-baritone singing was majestic”. 

 – Philip Clark ,Gramophone, June 5, 2007.

“Keeling was jazzily sexy, especially when he got to roll around in the bottom of his range.”

— Joanne Sydney Lessner, Opera News Online, July 2007. 

“Daniel Keeling provided electrifying resonance, especially in his lowest register…” 

– Joshua Rosenblum, The Post and Courier/Charleston,June 8, 2007

“I always thought of Broadway when bass-baritone Daniel Keeling was at the microphone…”

— Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail , June 2, 2007

“[Daniel] Keeling’s elegant and understated stage presence anchored much of the concert visually, especially when all four singers were moving around onstage at the same time.”

— BK Drinwater, Salient (Wellington, NZ), March 17, 2008

The Tender Land (Copland) 

“…[Grandpa Moss was] tough, old-fashioned and protective…”   

 – Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, January 23, 2007. 

Oedipus (Harry Partch)

 “Daniel Keeling made Tiresias a mad preacher, with a bit of Ray Charles thrown in.”  

— Alex Ross, The New Yorker, April 18, 2005

Idomeneo (Mozart)

“The climax for many was the appearance of Zeus (La Voce), as memorable for the Wagnerian premonitions of Mozart’s bass writing as it was for Daniel Keeling’s resonant pronouncements”. 

 – William Dart, The New Zealand Herald, August 4, 2004