Yvanne Dandan

The dreamer comes home

 by Lucille Nolasco

Growing up with an instrumentalist father and a music teacher for a mother, it is no wonder that Yvanne Dandan loved music at a young age.

“I remember it always being part of my life growing up,” shared the young singer. “As a mere toddler, some of my fondest memories were sitting in my car seat in the back of the car while my dad was driving. We would listen to the songs on the radio and I’d be humming along, making up the words along the way.”

Yvanne’s father Ed, played in a marching band back home in the Philippines. The clarinet was his instrument. Mom Gloria was a music teacher at an elementary school.

As a child, Yvanne loved participating in many activities, especially involving music and dance. In high school, she was involved in the performing arts and was considering going into music right after high school graduation. However, that plan did not materialise. She instead took, and completed, a Business Administration degree. And that time away from her first love made her realize how great her passion was for it.

“After graduating university, I knew that I still felt very passionate about music and was committed to exploring my potential in the industry. With that said, I saved up so that I could explore my passion for music and study in Toronto.”

There in the big city, she learned more about music and honed her skills in song writing. She gets inspiration from almost everything, not just personal experiences, but also from world happenings.

“A lot of the songs I write are born out of a title. A title idea comes to mind that I get excited about, I quickly grab a pen and paper, and the rest is history! The process can take anywhere from 10 minutes to days depending on the parameters I set for myself.”

Recently, Yvanne released a her song My Heart is Home, which she said was derived, in part, from personal experience.

“Music is a powerful tool to bring people together. Music has the opportunity to move people and make change happen in a very intimate and real way.

I am on this journey in the music industry not just because I love writing and performing music - but also because I am determined to see more representation of Filipino artists in the [Canadian] mainstream music industry.”

My Heart is Home is now available for purchase and/or download across all major online music services such as iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play.