US singing sensation a coup for Queenstown’s Winter Festival

One of the world’s most sought after tenors, internationally acclaimed ‘singing policeman’ Daniel Rodriguez, will wow visitors to this year’s American Express Queenstown Winter Festival.

Billed as a Festival highlight, the US star will perform alongside expat Kiwi songbirds Marla & Marissa in a one-night only performance of pop, musical theatre and light opera.

‘From Pop to Pagliacci’ will be held at 6pm, Wednesday 30 June in the new American Express Ice Box, a silked and chandeliered downtown temporary venue hosting a number of the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival events.

Daniel Rodriguez shot to fame as the ‘singing policeman’ after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The New York City beat cop’s warm, rich tenor and stirring rendition of “God Bless America”, which he sang at memorial events following the disaster, struck a chord with a nation in mourning.

His performances led to an offer of formal training from Placido Domingo with whom he studied for a year and a half.

Since then, he has sung at the White House and throughout America and Europe, including at the 2002 Winter Olympics and appeared on international talk shows such as Oprah, Letterman and Larry King. He officially retired from the New York Police Department in June 2004 to pursue a full-time singing career. Mr Rodriguez has now recorded several albums, appeared in opera and in symphony concerts, and performs in support of numerous charities.

Mr Rodriguez also has a strong Kiwi connection. He is married to Marla, the daughter of renowned New Zealand opera singer Kathy Craig and identical twin sister of Marissa Dikkenberg. The two Dunedin-born sopranos began their music careers at the age of five and are now considered international artists in their own right.

Marla & Marissa have performed at the 9/11 Commemoration in New York, the 2003 America's Cup in Auckland, and were chosen by the New Zealand Government to sing at the Academy Award celebrations in Los Angeles when Peter Jackson won the Oscar for Lord of the Rings.

The pair combine unique harmonies perfectly in a range of musical theatre standards, opera classics, and popular hits from the likes of Elton John, Sting and John Lennon. They have just completed a 107-city tour across North America with Daniel Rodriguez to promote their album ‘Songbirds’.

American Express Queenstown Winter Festival Director Simon Green says it’s a real coup to present artists of this calibre and believes it brings world-class style and grace to the Festival calendar.

“We’re really excited about this event. To have someone as internationally acclaimed as Daniel perform at the Festival is quite remarkable because he’s one of the most in demand tenors in the world. Add Marla & Marissa to the mix and it will be a must-see event for music lovers of all ages.”

‘From Pop to Pagliacci’ tickets are $59 and can be purchased from TicketDirect online www.ticketdirect.co.nz, by phone 0800 224 224 (03 450 9110), in person at the Queenstown Events Centre or Queenstown i-Site (corner of Shotover and Camp streets), or via the Festival website www.winterfestival.co.nz.

ENDS