The Dixie Sun

Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Submitted Daniel Rodriguez performs around the world. He will be singing at the Cox Thursday and Friday.

Even though its been a long time since Sept. 11, 2001, the events of that day still haunt Americans and DSC students have an opportunity to attend a concert performed by one of New York's finest.

Daniel Rodriguez was a policeman in New York during the horrific event that occurred in 2009. Since then Rodriguez has been called "the singing policeman" as he tours the nation entertaining audiences with his tenor vocals.

It was Rodriguez's performances of "God Bless America" and the national anthem that touched the hearts of the nation during Sept. 11 memorial services. He has since performed patriotic and inspirational songs, as well as selections from Broadway and the opera, at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Disneyland and the White House.

Rodriguez always had a dream to work in music. In New York he needed a full-time job with benefits to support his family, so he became a policeman and spent 10 years with the New York Police Department.

"I had compassion for people and helped them deal with everyday problems," Rodriguez said in an interview with Walter Skiba for the New York Times. "A police officer has a front seat to people at the worst times in their life."

It was during and after Sept. 11 that Rodriguez was really able to have both his dream and compassion fuse together.

He said: "It was a great awakening for me. I had thought of myself as a singer moonlighting as a policeman, but now I realized what the oath I had taken to serve and protect really meant."

The singing policeman was accepted into Placido Domingo's young artists' class in Washington, D.C. Rodriguez was 38.

During his time spent with Domingo, the Spanish tenor, Rodriguez said: "I learned I can do anything I set my mind to. I have a versatile enough voice to succeed in whatever style I choose."

Since September of 2009, Rodriguez has been touring across America with his concert that will take concertgoers on a journey through his life through music.

One student planning on attending the concert is Derek Thomas, a junior music major from St. George.

"The tenor voice is just in the right range that really strikes with the heart beat," Thomas said. "The frequency of the pitch really resonates with a person."

The resonating heart beat of Rodriguez's tenor voice coupled with the intentions of his music adds to the value of his performance.

"Music is an expression of the soul and if I keep my soul filled with the spirit of kindness, the desire to care, and the wonder of spirit that guides me, then through my music I will express all that is good within me," Rodriguez said in a quote from his Web site, www.danielrodriguezmusic.com.

Rodriguez will be performing Friday and Saturday at the Cox Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for children, and free to students with valid student I.D.

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