Inspired to offer aid to victims of the March 2011 Japanese tsunami, Daniele Hager decided to use her voice.
The classically trained 29-year-old opera singer gathered a group of friends ”“ mostly fellow alumni from Rye Country Day School (RCDS) ”“ and teamed up with AmeriCares to put on a concert, “Music for Japan,” at the Rye Arts Center June 4 of last year.
In a time when national arts funding continues to dip and major opera companies, including New York City Opera struggle to stay afloat, Hager”™s successful event creatively raised funds for Japan. The concert also offered the versatile singer and her peers a new platform to showcase their art in a meaningful manner.
“I had been doing concerts on my own and asking for suggested donations ”“ and then I realized that people were coming to these concerts and so I thought, why not do something for a charity?” Hager says.
Soon after, Hager officially established the Westchester County-based nonprofit organization We Sing for the World, which identifies global causes to support with donations from opera, pop-rock and musical theater concerts held in Westchester and Manhattan. Recently, the organization finally found a home venue at the 410-seat theater at the White Plains Performing Arts Center.
“This is how it all happened,” she starts. “I contacted Jeremy Quinn, the production manager at the White Plains Performing Arts Center, as a recommendation from my younger brother who worked with him when he was doing youth theater.”
“So in my email”™s subject line, I wrote ”˜I”™m Robi Hager”™s sister,”™” she says. “Honestly, I”™ve gotten a lot of great things by saying that.”
Hager explained to Quinn that We Sing for the World was seeking a venue for a spring concert focused on raising donations for the Friedreich”™s Ataxia Research Alliance, which aims to find a cure for a rare neurological disease.
“Right away he responded and said he would love to host the event and they were incredible. Everyone donated so much time. About 50 to 60 people attended,” she says.
“After the concert Jeremy came up to me and said, ”˜We would love to be the home for We Sing for the World,”™ and I was basically about to burst into tears because I had been trying so hard and planning this concert for about eight months, trying to find a venue. I looked everywhere and then when I came to see this theater I thought, ”˜Wow, this is actually such an incredible theater,”™ Hager says.
Hager”™s own entry into the music world started at home. Her father, John, is an American who lived in Mexico for 20 years working as a professional trombone player. John and his wife, Consuelo, raised their family in Mexico City before returning to the United States.
After “absolutely” experiencing major culture shock, Hager eased into the Northeast pace and graduated from RCDS in 2002. She received her B.A. in voice performance at SUNY Purchase and her M.A. from Florida State University. Today her father is the band director at RCDS and her mother works in the alumni and development office, while Hager teaches her own vocal students down the street in Rye.
Hager teaches when she”™s not busy researching charitable causes and organizing and promoting the next concert, “We Sing for Wishes,” which will be held Dec. 10 to benefit Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley. She also studies in Westchester with voice teacher Sherry Overholt, while auditioning and performing operatic roles as far away as Costa Rica.
“I happen to be a soprano ”“ I”™m one in a million,” says Hager, who grew frustrated with the industry”™s typecasting and fixation on the next “big voice.”
“The last opera I went to see had incredible voices but it didn”™t do anything for me because of the acting. For me, being an opera singer, yes, you do have to emote with your voice but you”™re a visual artist too,” she reflects.
As a result, Hager was drawn back to her musical theater roots and this summer at New York”™s Fringe Festival, she performed in “the hilarious new musical ”˜The Hills Are Alive!”™” which she describes as “a dark comedy on what happens after ”˜The Sound of Music.”™” Critic Matthew Murray named Hager “the brightest standout” while critic Rob Lester wrote, “You won”™t forget the actress”™ name.”
We Sing for the World is “all about reaching out to people,” she says, adding “so now that we have a home, it really makes such a difference.”
She says, “I want to sing and I want to perform, not because it”™s a business but because I love it and I know I can affect people.”
For more information, visit wesingfortheworld.com. The organization”™s next show will be held on Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. at the White Plains Performing Arts Center to benefit Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley.
