Member Since: 30/09/2006
Influences: Dee Donasco “Follows Her Dreams†of Opera
May 3, 2009
By Kaitlyn Dunne
[email protected] sixth and final Brown Bag opera series, “Free for All†featured theatrical songs from the original piece Opera in a Box: Follow Your Dreams, written and directed by Hank Hammett.Four members of SMU Emerging Artists Program, as well as The Dallas Opera, wowed an audience of nearly 500 friends, family and guests, with their performance. The SMU opera stars, Soowon Seo, Juan de Leon, Selby Hlangu, and Dee Donasco, shared their voices and musical talent with audience members lobby of the Meadows School of the Arts.In a comical performance as a life-size mechanical doll, the only female performer onstage, Donasco, got the audience laughing and feeling amazed through her high-pitched singing solos.Donasco was born and raised in the Philippines. Watching her sing onstage dressed as a life-size mechanical doll, you never would have guessed she came to college with hopes of being a medical doctor.“Life at school and life at home were very different,†she said.One of Donasco’s fondest childhood memories was singing in church each week with her grandmother. It was there, in a Philippines church, that Donasco found her passion and love for music.When Donasco was 13-years-old, she and her siblings moved to the United States to live with their mother. At 18, after enrolling in college as a biology major, with hopes of continuing her education in med school, Donasco wondered what life would be like as a professional opera singer.“As you can see, I’m not a biologist,†Donasco joked.Next year Donasco will begin her second year in SMU’s master studies program. As she continues to follow her childhood dream towards becoming an opera star, it seems the Brown Bag show theme, Opera in a Box: Follow Your Dreams, was particularly appropriate.
Sounds Like: Music to your ears.
Record Label: Unsigned