Daniel Isengart
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Daniel Isengart, born Daniel Bienert, is a performance coach,
stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
, and culinary writer who became known as an
entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers

* Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Barker (occupation), Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Cheerleader * Circus arts, Circus perform ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
scene in the late 1990s.


Performing career

Isengart's early years were spent in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
before moving to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1993 to study dance and join the city's thriving art scene. In 1997, he began performing one-man shows in New York City cabarets and made a name for himself as a specialist of the European Cabaret tradition, earning residencies in downtown nightclubs such as Bar d'O (by invitation of
Joey Arias Joey Arias, also known as Joseph Arias and Joe Arias, is an American artist based in New York City, best known for work as a performance artist, cabaret singer, and drag artist, but also as a published author, comedian, stage persona and film ...
) and Starlight Lounge. From 2001 to 2008, he was featured annually at the prestigious cabaret series presented at Café Sabarsky at the
Neue Galerie New York The Neue Galerie New York ( German for "New Gallery") is a museum of early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design located in the William Starr Miller House at 86th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. Established in 2001, ...
. This led to performances at venues such as BAMCafé at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...
,
The Philadelphia Museum of Art ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
, the
Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...
, the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...
, and
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
Deutsches Haus. In 2008, he created, directed, and hosted a weekly, international variety show called ''Foreign Affairs'', which started as a
speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...
in the loft of an artist collective in New York's Chinatown before moving on to limited runs at the Gershwin Hotel and a supper club in Soho. A version of the variety show was presented by
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, featuring a fashion show Isengart commissioned from the artist Machine Dazzle. ''Foreign Affairs'' culminated with a year-long residency in the lounge at the Night Hotel in
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
, produced by Lee Chappell and co-hosted by singer Lady Rizo. In 2010, Isengart brought his cabaret-style tribute to
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
, titled ''The Importance of Being Elvis'', to
Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette Str ...
, where it ran several times until 2011. Isengart frequently collaborates with Conductor
Edwin Outwater Edwin Maurice Outwater (born 12 April 1971) is an American conductor. Biography Outwater is a graduate of Harvard University, graduating ''cum laude'' in 1993 with a degree in English literature. While at Harvard, he was music director of the Bac ...
, who in 2011 invited him to guest perform with Canadian soprano
Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman–Lee (née Gosman; June 28, 1977) is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular m ...
and the
Kitchener–Waterloo Symphony The Kitchener–Waterloo Symphony (KWS) is an orchestra based in the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Its home venue is located at Centre In The Square in Kitchener, Ontario. The orchestra consists of 52 professional musici ...
. In 2012, Isengart starred as the
chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...
in
Heinz Karl Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said ...
's song cycle, ''Frankenstein!!'', presented by
Edwin Outwater Edwin Maurice Outwater (born 12 April 1971) is an American conductor. Biography Outwater is a graduate of Harvard University, graduating ''cum laude'' in 1993 with a degree in English literature. While at Harvard, he was music director of the Bac ...
and the concert:nova ensemble at the
Emery Theatre The Emery Theatre, or Emery Auditorium, is a historic, acoustically exceptional theater located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The building was constructed in 1911 as the home for a trade school (the Ohio Mechanics Insti ...
. In 2020, Outwater invited Isengart to host and direct a winter series of performances of the Sun Valley Music Festival, featuring mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook.


Directing, coaching and teaching

Isengart was the stage director for chanteuse Yanna Avis from 2008 to 2015. He staged his first opera, ''
Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...
'', with the
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfrie ...
conducted by
Edwin Outwater Edwin Maurice Outwater (born 12 April 1971) is an American conductor. Biography Outwater is a graduate of Harvard University, graduating ''cum laude'' in 1993 with a degree in English literature. While at Harvard, he was music director of the Bac ...
in 2016, and in 2018 he directed and hosted the orchestra's production of ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'', under the baton of its new music director,
Andrei Feher Andrei Feher (born 1991) is a Romanian-Canadian conductor. Early life Born into a family of musicians in the Romanian city of Satu Mare, he began studying the violin at seven, and moved with his family to Montreal at the age of 13, where he e ...
. Later that year, En Piste, the Canadian National Circus Alliance based in Montreal, invited Isengart to teach a group workshop about the "Art of the MC". Isengart works as a performance coach for opera singers and is a member of the faculty of Classic Lyrics Arts in New York. He teaches courses on historical performance at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. He is also a board member of the web interview series ''Living the Classical Life'', hosted by Zsolt Bognár.


Culinary career

As a young adult, living in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and studying
interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...
at the
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...
, Isengart worked as chef for an Italian restaurant in the city's fashion district. Arriving in New York City in 1993, he worked for caterers such as Glorious Food and
Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, and Dubai. He is best known for his eponymous restaurant Daniel, opened in Ne ...
's Feast and Fêtes to support his dance studies and later began working part-time as a freelance private chef. In the 2000s he created the persona of the Foodcommander for a YouTube miniseries, wrote a food blog for ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'', and, in 2018, authored a series of articles and a cooking advice column for ''Slate''. In 2018 he wrote a culinary memoir in the style of '' The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book'', published by Outpost19.


Personal life

Isengart is married to Belgian artist, writer, and art history professor Filip Noterdaeme, who in 2014 wrote ''The Autobiography of Daniel J. Isengart'', an adaptation of
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...
''
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas ''The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas'' is a book by Gertrude Stein, written in October and November 1932 and published in 1933. It employs the form of an autobiography authored by Alice B. Toklas, Stein's life partner. In 1998, Modern Libr ...
'' published by Outpost 19. They live together in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York.


Published works

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See also

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LGBT culture in New York City New York City has been described as the gay village, gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ political sociology, sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+ populations. Br ...
*
List of LGBT people from New York City New York City has been described as the gay village, gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ political sociology, sociopolitical ecosystem. It is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ populations. LGBTQ ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isengart, Daniel 21st-century American LGBTQ people American cabaret singers American cookbook writers American gay musicians American gay writers American LGBTQ artists American male singers American memoirists American performance artists Gay memoirists LGBTQ people from New York (state) Living people Year of birth missing (living people)