Beyond the Notes: Searching for Robert Stolz

Join artist-educator Daniel Neer as he takes us on a journey exploring the life and music of composer Robert Stolz, one of the last great composers of Viennese Operetta, and the inspiration for Neer’s new original operetta-in-progress The Barbed Wire Waltz.

A project more than a decade in the making, Daniel’s research and creative process for the new operetta has been an enlightening journey of unexpected events: from the serendipitous discovery of an autographed autobiography, to the growing relationship with the composer's estate, culminating in a recent three-week in-depth research trip to Vienna and Graz, Austria. 

Neer performs some of Stolz’s most famous and timeless melodies, with his new English translations, and narrates his process of infusing historical context, surprising on-site research, and illuminating conversations with family members into the creation of a new book and libretto that celebrate operetta in a nostalgic throwback to 1930s Vienna. 

Searching for Robert Stolz is a unique glimpse into the creative process and foundations of a new stage work, while celebrating one of Austria’s most iconic artists and honoring Viennese Operetta amidst its decline with the Anschluss of 1938. 

Neer will be accompanied on piano by Boyer School of Music faculty member Kim Barroso.