For most of us, connection means finding our own personal style. For creative professionals like composer Danielle Hani, it requires doing this in a style dictated by others. From an award–winning television series about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to animated films with a Celtic personality and even suspenseful Sci-Fi productions, facilitating the creation of the musical sibling to a filmmaker’s vision is a voyage of discovery for Danielle. She has become the favored of many creative leads across various tones and styles of entertainment. You’re as likely to hear her compositions in a live theater production as in a video game or a film. An extremely gifted musician and pianist herself, Danielle sees the inner workings and the “big picture” as a composer. Well versed in classical vernacular as well as the most modern sonic techniques, Danielle Hani continually proves that speaking the proper musical language in the right setting makes for a very busy work schedule.
Animator Matthew Mali had long been a fan of Danielle’s musical compositions when he approached her requesting that she create music for his latest film Great Grey. The battle scene in the middle of this film proves just how accurate Mr. Mali’s instincts were. At his request, Danielle used a traditional Celtic style approach which focused on authenticity of musical instruments from the medieval era. The tone of the film itself is more Indie as opposed to a VFX heavy highly produced film and Ms. Hani adopted this manner in her score to correlate with the overall tone. A crescendo of drums gives way to a surprising shock during this intense moment of the film. The Melbourne Independent Film Festival recognized Great Grey with a Best Animated Short Film award.
One of the most demanding and creatively satisfying projects for this composer has been her past two years working on a live musical theatre production titled “Rhapsody in Ruins.” Created and written by Alex Crespo and Blythe Schulte, the musical follows a band of young musicians poised for major stardom when war erupts and completely alters their life trajectory. The members of this five-piece musical group undertake different routes, some fight on the battlefield while others hide as they each see how choices and the lack of choices transform their own realities. From the opener “Making it Big” to “Noodle Night”, “The Song is Over”, and other Hani compositions, the audience feels the internal emotions of these characters. Danielle describes, “The overall style of the songs in the musical leans toward a pop vibe. When writing the music, I approached each song as if it were being performed by a real band—with guitars, drums, bass, and vocals—so that the sound would feel authentic and grounded in a pop/rock band style. Creating a musical is a long journey, so it feels amazing to be at the point where we’re almost finished and ready to start pitching our idea, something we truly believe in, to the world. It’s also exciting to see how people respond to the script and music. So far, the feedback has been really positive, and I’m eager to see what comes next.”
Whether it’s working on productions like the television series Red Skies (winner of Best TV series at: the Global India International Film Festival, the Buenos Aires International Film Festival, and the TV Series Festival Berlin) or a live musical theater production such as Rhapsody in Ruins, one of the key components to the success of Danielle Hani is that she is always completely committed. There is no halfway for her. Immersing herself in the world and characters of a production, she channels them in musical terms, and it is profoundly evident in her work.
Writer : Basil Thomson
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