Navajo vocalist to perform with Rehoboth choir Sunday

Daniel Smilley, a pastor at a church in Black Mountain, Ariz. on the reservation, rehearses with the Rehoboth Choir on Wednesday afternoon at Sacred Heart Church. Smiley and the choir will give a Christmas performance on Sunday at 4 pm at the church. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Ten years ago, local choir director Gail DeYoung heard a beautiful voice she’s never been able to forget.

A young Navajo man sat down at a piano at the Farmington Civic Center and proceeded to sing a moving version of “O Holy Night.” DeYoung, who was there with the Rehoboth High School Choir, found herself marveling at the beauty of the singer’s voice.

“It was the most compelling and beautiful solo we had heard,” she recalled.

DeYoung has spent the last decade trying to arrange a time to bring Daniel Smiley — the man behind the solo — to sing with the Rehoboth Choir in one of the best concert venues in Gallup — the Sacred Heart Cathedral.

She’s finally succeeded this year: Smiley will be the guest vocalist in “Hear the Voice,” the annual Christmas Concert of the Rehoboth High School Choir, which DeYoung co-directs with Bob Ippel. The concert will be at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the cathedral, located at 415 E. Green.

Smiley will once again sing “O Holy Night,” along with several other Christmas hymns in Navajo and English.

Smiley, 34, a pastor from Black Mountain, Ariz., was in Gallup on Wednesday to rehearse with the choir. In a brief interview, Smiley talked about his love for music, a love that has taken him across the Navajo Nation to perform in small reservation churches and dusty camp meetings and also around the world. Earlier this year, Smiley performed in churches in Indonesia and China.

The first music he heard, Smiley explained, were traditional Navajo songs sung by his maternal grandfather, who was a medicine man. He began singing in a church choir when he was 12 years old, and about the same time he began selling recordings of his own music. According to Smiley, he has released a dozen CDs, most recently a Christmas album in 2006.

Stints in the church choir were followed by stints in the Rio Grande High School Choir in Albuquerque and the Mid-America Nazarene University Choir in Olathe, Kan.

Although he is known for singing gospel music, Smiley enjoys listening to jazz, rock, and particularly classical music. Over the years, he has also become an accomplished musician on the piano and accordion. He also can play the trumpet and violin and is currently learning to play the guitar.

Smiley credits his mother for much of his success. “She really encouraged me in music,” he said.

For the past 13 years, Smiley has served as pastor of the Tokihasbi Holiness Church, which he said is affiliated with the Mennonite denomination. When he performs around the Navajo Nation, he explained, he generally brings his accordion because many reservation churches don’t have pianos available. Smiley said the sale of his CDs helps support his ministry.

Richard Kontz, the owner of Gallup’s Bread of Life Bookstore, said Smiley’s CDs are popular with his Native American customers.

“People like the quality of his music,” Kontz said. In addition, he said, Smiley is known for how well he enunciates in both English and Navajo when he sings.

His fans also appreciate Smiley’s down-to-earth character, Kontz said. “He’s very humble about who he is,” he explained. “Everything’s about God as far as he’s concerned.”

Concertgoers are asked not to bring young children to Sunday’s concert. Bethany Christian Reformed Church, located at 1110 S. Strong, is offering free childcare beginning at 3:30 p.m. Seating is always in high demand at the annual event, so audience members should plan to arrive early.