Mansfield Music students to provide back-up vocals at Josh Groban concert

MANSFIELD, Pa. – 20 Mansfield University music students will provide back-up vocals for multi-platinum recording artist Josh Groban during a concert at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y. on Tuesday, July 5.

Groban, a Los Angeles native, has sold more than 30 million albums and DVDs since breaking through in 2001 with his self-titled debut. He is the only artist who has had two albums land on Billboard’s list of 20 best-sellers of the last 10 years. Groban’s global arena tours routinely sell out. 

The arrangement was made when Groban’s agent contacted MU Director of Choral Activities, Dr. Peggy Dettwiler, requesting singers from Mansfield University. The students will provide the vocals for the following selections: Bridge Over Troubled Water, Celebrate Me Home, For Granted, River, The Fullest, and Groban’s signature song You Raise Me Up. The voicing is primarily for three-part Gospel style singing featuring sopranos, altos, and tenors.

The concert is part of Groban’s 25-city Harmony tour across the U.S. The Bethel Woods Center is a 15,000-seat venue at the site of the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival. 

Mansfield University music students participating in the concert are: 

Sopranos 

• Emma Criswell (Lewisburg, Pa.) 
• Abigail Dalton (Factoryville, Pa.) 
• Madison Felpel (Lititz, Pa.) 
• Alexandra Fisher (Owego, N.Y.) 
• Natalie Holsey (Altoona, Pa.) 
• Rachael Karwowski (Lock Haven, Pa.) 
• Hanna Worthington (Hickory, N.C.) 

Altos 

• Jennifer Andrianos (Endwell, N.Y.)  
• Amos Kohne (North Wales, Pa.) 
• Jael Niedermaier (Syracuse, N.Y.) 
• Nicole Ann Orlando (Mountain Top, Pa.) 
• Emily Sanker (Osceola Mills, Pa.) 
• Taylor Stevens (Waynesboro, Pa.) 
• Victoria Wormuth (Pleasant Mount, Pa.) 

Tenors/Basses 

• David Hull (Tamaqua, Pa.) 
• Jeremiah Loubriel (Reading, Pa.) 
• Patrick Murphy (Depew, N.Y.)  
• John Christopherson (Colorado Springs, Colo.)  
• Austin Brien (Rochester, N.Y.) 
• Andrew Clark (Owego, N.Y.) 

Mansfield University was the first Pennsylvania state institution to grant a certificate to teach music and has had a long, rich tradition of music excellence since its founding in 1857. The department features numerous large and small performing ensembles, including orchestra, bands, choirs, and chamber ensembles. Graduates are regularly accepted into the finest graduate programs in music, are active as performers throughout the United States, and include some of the finest music educators in the northeast.