MISSION STATEMENT
Bel Canto Duo serves the community by sharing new music that is accessible and welcoming to all. We foster creative partnerships with the hopes that our music will facilitate curiosity, spark creativity, healing & hope. Our work is intended to cultivate a spirit of collaboration and a vision of our shared humanity.
Transformative music experiences for audiences of all ages, institutions & communities.
Bel Canto Duo
Two lifelines converged under a shooting star. From the night we met, collaboration followed almost immediately. The creative clarity that emerged during the pandemic further shaped our shared artistic path, leading to the formation of Bel Canto Duo, created by looping artist and cellist David Downing and multi instrumentalist Darci Gamerl. Their mission is to build meaningful community and connection through original composition, combining lyrical musical lines with research informed healing music practices grounded in NeuroArts.
Bel Canto Duo’s film and concert work often centers on cultural storytelling and the relationship between place, history, and sound. Their cinematic suite Four Cather Tableaux, commissioned by the National Willa Cather Center, highlights the life and writings of author Willa Cather. The work pairs imagery of the Great Plains with Cather’s texts and Bel Canto Duo’s original score, creating a powerful and immersive experience for audiences of all ages.
Darci Gamerl and David Downing have developed a distinctive voice as contemporary musical storytellers. Their compositions and film scores explore culture, heritage, and the science of sound through NeuroArts research. Their scoring credits include the documentaries Nebraska Flatwater and Willa Cather: Breaking the Mold, which features commentary by documentarian Ken Burns, along with their original documentary Taking Flight: The 8th Wonder of the World, following the annual migration of Sandhill Cranes through Nebraska’s Central Flyway.
Their work has been recognized with the Karen Gould Research Award and the Outstanding New Artist Award from the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards. Bel Canto Duo are members of the Nebraska Arts Council Touring Artist Roster.
Recent and upcoming residencies include Tallgrass Artist Residency, the Hafnarborg Artist Residency in Iceland (July 2026), and Chesterwood, the historic home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French, where the duo will undertake research and creative development connected to their forthcoming documentary The Making of a Master, exploring the early life and artistic formation of French. Bel Canto Duo will return to Chesterwood in August 2026 for additional creative work and performances as part of their East Coast touring season.
Through film, live performance, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Bel Canto Duo continues to develop projects that bring together music, storytelling, and NeuroArts research, creating immersive experiences that foster a sense of belonging, community, and connection.
BOOKING INQUIRIES: Darci Gamerl - darcigamerl@gmail.com - 402-208-1278
