Opera singer shares music from the heart with Newark students

• Opera singer Jesús Daniel Hernández will perform a Valentine's Day concert with the NGSO Saturday at the Midland.
• Hernández is a tenor in the American National Opera Company.
• He visited two Newark elementary schools Friday to sing and talk to students about music.

NEWARK — Jesús Daniel Hernández heard a song on the radio when he was 7 or 8 that changed his life.

Growing up in Juarez, Mexico, he didn't have many opportunities to see different types of music be performed live.

But when he heard the man on the radio singing in a high, strong voice, that started his lifelong dream of being an opera singer.

"I heard his voice and knew I wanted to sing like him," Hernández said.

A tenor in the American National Opera Company, Hernández visited Newark to perform with the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra Saturday night in "From the Heart", a Valentine's Day concert at the Midland Theatre.

But on Friday, he visited John Clem Elementary and Carson Elementary schools to perform for the students.

His goal was to introduce students to different types of music and inspire them at a young age.

"That's what happened to me," he said. "Maybe by doing this, I can open someone's eyes to another world and be an inspiration for someone else, which is really cool."

Although he mostly played his guitar and sang to the Newark students, Hernández also told them the story of his childhood in Mexico.

Some of the first songs he learned to sing and play were romantic songs, which he demonstrated at John Clem by serenading two of the teachers.

He played for several years in a mariachi band, then later moved to the United States as a teenager.

He chose to enlist in the Army and voluntarily deployed to Iraq. But he continued to dream of becoming a singer.

In 2007, he was able to sing for the musician Plácido Domingo, who helped him get the training he needed to reach his goal.

He explained to the students that his opera career has given him the opportunity to sing in many languages, including French, Portuguese, German and Russian.

The songs he sang Friday were in Spanish and Italian, but students still nodded their heads and tapped their feet to the music.

"Music is so emotional, you don't have to understand the language to understand the feeling," Hernández said. "Music is really about feelings."

He talked with students about the music of Mexico and encouraged them to find out what types of music are important in their cultural background.

"No matter what your background is, every one here has a beautiful background with wonderful music," he said. "You can explore that more."

Elementary students don't usually get the opportunity to hear much opera, so Friday's outreach programs were a way to share something new, said Susan Larson, executive director for the NGSO.

"Our job is to share something they are not hearing at home and listening to on their own to make their world a bigger place," Larson said.

When Larson found out that Hernández is in the central Ohio area frequently to see his wife's family in Zanesville, she asked if he would perform in "From the Heart" with featured conductor Luis Gabriel Biava.

Hernández will sing four arias, accompanied by the NGSO, on Saturday night. The entire concert will focus on romantic music, Larson said.

"I do enjoy singing romantic music, that was the first kind of music I learned to play on the guitar," Hernández said.

Because of his Army background, it was important for Hernández that the concert be free for all veterans and active military members.

Larson said her goal, for both Saturday's concert and Friday's outreach programs, was to share music that brightened people's hearts and introduced people to new genres.

"The more music we are exposed to, the more fulfilling our lives can be," she said.

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries 

If You Go

What: "From the Heart"

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Midland Theatre, 36 N. Park Place, Newark

Cost: $20 general admission, $5 for students. Anyone who presents a military ID at the box office will get a free ticket.

More info: For more information call 740-345-5483 or go tongsymphony.org.