Story

The Story Of Opāru

Opāru is the stunning musical endeavor of Los Angeles-based songwriter, singer, and actress Dianna St. Hilaire. Opāru’s music can be described as electro with a dark ethereal undertone. Combined with dreamy operatic vocals, Opāru’s work creates a unique depiction of modern synth-pop culture.

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, St. Hilaire started to write and perform music at a very young age in choir and musicals. Self-taught, her first instrument was the piano and she worked tirelessly at the craft of reading and writing music. When St. Hilaire was in her late teens she began performing with punk bands and for producers as a backup/ studio vocalist in New Mexico, where she took on her first musical alias, the highly successful group Versailles. Partnering with the infamous Kim Fowley (The Runaways, Kiss, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper), she has toured the US extensively, been featured on the official Grammy ballots, as well as charting on Billboard. Versailles’s music was also on rotation with popular stations across the U.S. including KROQ and NPR tastemaker KCRW.

St. Hilaire reinvented herself in late 2015 with the new project Opāru, deriving from the Japanese name of the birthstone opal. Opāru’s roots stem from experimental electronic, 80s synth-pop, and alternative rock.  She confides, “The underlying theme in my music is the workings of the inner voice. The internal person that lingers buried under insecurities and fears. Why are there so many? Why do we as human beings tolerate environments where these feelings are projected onto us?” Her influences range from Madonna, The Cure, Lykke Li, Lana Del Rey, Halsey and SOHN.

Currently, Opāru is working with various music libraries and agencies in the United States.  Her music can be heard on shows like Home and Away and Motoamerica.

Opāru is about to drop Limitless in the next few weeks, produced and written by Dianna St. Hilaire and Caroline Hill Moore.  The single is a powerful orchestral pop song featuring a string and horns section.  It is dedicated to all the amazing hard working women out there.  We can truly do anything we put our hearts into.