By Laura Klotzkin, Managing Editor
Daemen University’s HOPE Center (Home of Opportunity, Purpose and Engagement), puts on many events throughout the semester, but some of their most notable events have been their music events.
During the fall semester, the HOPE Center put on a protest music event titled Music Has the Power. This event included performances from Daemen students, faculty and local music artists. Due to the event’s success, another music event titled Her Voice After Dark was held this semester on March 26.
“Her Voice After Dark was a musical showcase that celebrated songs written by female songwriters,” said Sienna Abeler, junior history, English and political science major. “The event included talent from Daemen students and staff as well as Jillian Hanesworth, an Emmy-winning poet from Buffalo.”
The event hosted by Abeler showcased a variety of musical performances to celebrate female musicians. Performers included both Daemen students, faculty, and community members. The people who performed were Jillian Hanesworth, Debbie Periannan, Jeremy Hall, Emily Hall, Sienna Abeler, Max Hawerbier and Marie Sanchez.
“I think it’s important to support more musical events at Daemen, especially live performances,” said Jeremy Hall, math professor.
Hall’s performance included covers of “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon and “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eilish. He often performs music for Daemen events. In addition to Her Voice After Dark, his band also opened for this year’s Springfest.
“Women have made vital and massive contributions to all genres of music, and we have some really musically talented students here at Daemen,” Hall said.
During the event, he noted that music “runs in the family,” as his daughter performed in the event as well.
“I selected songs written by women and songs that were about women’s empowerment,” Emily Hall said.
Emily Hall performed “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera and “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus.
In addition to these performers, the event also hosted Jillian Hanesworth, who is a spoken-word poet, Emmy winner and the first-ever Poet Laureate of Buffalo.
“Jillian was the recipient of a national sports Emmy in the Dick Schaap Outstanding Writing category for her ‘Still Here’ collaboration with the NFL network, poetically documenting the pain, trauma, and resilience of the city of Buffalo,” the program for Her Voice After Dark states.
Hanesworth was the first performer, opening the night with a poem called “Water,” which provided a message of hope and healing to the audience.
20 people were registered for the event on Daemen Connect and multiple performers expressed their gratitude for the number of attendees.
“I got a lot of positive feedback about the event,” said Abeler. “It was something that I haven’t seen on campus before.”
With so many people coming together to celebrate women’s voices, everybody involved appears to be very happy with the outcome.
“The overall take away of this event should be the power of women’s voices and how music connects us all,” said Abeler.