He sang a lullaby to a country scared, confused, saddened, and angered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Daniel Rodriguez, a NYC policeman and talented tenor, raised his voice and uplifted spirits with his rendition of “God Bless America,” and in turn, the country has helped him live his dream.
Since performing after the Sept. 11 attacks, he sang at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the PBS Memorial Day concert in Washington, D.C., the Tournament of Roses Parade, the 2004 Republican National Convention, and President Bush’s “Celebration of Freedom” inauguration concert. He’s performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, Larry King Live, Live with Regis and Kelly, and Oprah. He’s released three albums and is working on a book.
In short, he’s something of an overnight success, and, as is common in such stories, he began with years and years of hard work and false starts. The good times were easy, but to get through the rough patches Rodriguez credits one thing for keeping him going.
“Faith,” he explained. “Faith in God and faith in my calling. I’ve always believed no matter how many twists and turns life throws at me, music was going to be what I was going to do the rest of my life.”
Rodriguez performed in theater as a child. He made his acting debut at the age of 12 and sang for the first time in Carnegie Hall at age 17. At 24, he put his full effort into his music, putting on a show himself. He dusted off his sheet music from the Carnegie performance, hired a pianist, rented a hall, made flyers, sold tickets, collected money at the back of the house, then changed into a tux, went out front, and put on a show.
“Some people wait around for the big moment to happen. I decided I was going to make the big moment happen,” Rodriguez said of the experience—and basically summing up his philosophy on chasing his dream.
That experience netted him $200, which he put right back into his music. He made up a cover letter, some 8-by-10 photos, and a program of music and reviews and mailed them to every church he could find.
It worked. Churches booked him. Still, his talent alone wasn’t enough to keep food on the table, and eventually he had to find work that would also provide benefits for his young family.
He became a New York City police officer. He also became an “official singer” for the NYPD Ceremonial Unit, performing at functions and then in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
He called that time an awakening for him, and it gave him a greater understanding of what his oath as a police officer, sworn to serve and protect, really meant. It also gave him a better understanding of his calling as a performer.
He’s now in talks about a book concerning the events surrounding the terrorist attacks, his experiences as a police officer at the time, and his performance. He said the book will share his way of dealing with the tragedy and the people involved, as well as the positives that grew out of the events.
“It’s about my life and how the greatest tragedy and yet the greatest opportunity to share the gift God gave me would occur,” Rodriguez said.
Shortly after Rodriguez performed “God Bless America” for the country, then-mayor Rudoph Giuliani helped get him an audition at the Metropolitan Opera. The experience was a letdown for Rodriguez. He was met with skepticism and then allowed to sing two notes before being dismissed.
But Giuliani didn’t stop there. He informed Placido Domingo of the story, and Domingo, who was organizing his Young Artist program, promised to give Rodriguez a listen.
Rodriguez returned to the Met once again, this time to sing for Domingo, who ultimately invited him to study with him in Washington. His singing career took off from there, and he officially retired from the NYPD in June 2004.
Lately, Rodriguez has been promoting his latest album, I Believe, a compilation of four live performances in Holland using a full orchestra and a full choir.
Rodriguez will perform at First United Methodist Church in Lompoc as a tribute to public safety personnel in Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, and Vandenberg AFB.
“It will be a very uplifting and inspirational performance of music and harmonies,” Rodriguez said.
He will be joined by his wife Marla Kavanaugh and her twin sister Marissa Dikkenberg. Both were child stars in New Zealand before Marla focused on opera and Marissa on musical theater.
Rodriguez produced the women’s new CD, Songbirds, described by Rodriguez as adult contemporary easy listening with amazing harmonies. Kavanaugh and Dikkenberg will also perform at the Lompoc event.
Rodriguez paused before describing the upcoming performance and what audiences can expect: “Let me toot my own horn here a little,” he said with a measure of confidence and humility.
“The audience is going to see something they are not expecting to see. This is professional level you would see on Broadway, at the Met, in Las Vegas; anywhere you see top shows, that’s what you’re going to see,” he said.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone is never what audiences expect. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 21-28, 2010.