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Saturday, May 18, 2002

By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic

When Josh Groban opened his mouth to sing in last year's season finale of "Ally McBeal," most viewers assumed his voice was dubbed. That's because the voice that emanates from this young singer sounds more like that of a 30-something opera star than a lanky 21-year-old.

	"I have no doubt that in the next five years at some point I will record a classical album," says Josh Groban, who left Carnegie Mellon's musical theater program when Warner Bros. offered him a recording deal. Artist's site www.joshgroban.com

Prodigious violinists or pianists arrive on the scene all the time; however, vocalists usually mature much later. The uncanny development of Groban's vocal cords have him taking the charts by storm. His self-titled album is ninth on the Billboard 200 album sales and just went platinum, even though he has no hit on Top 40 radio. His success has been based on word of mouth, store promotions and TV appearances, including singing for the Salt Lake City Olympics.

But the success for the Los Angeles-born Groban would never have happened had he not taken the leap of faith that caused him to leave Carnegie Mellon University after only one semester. He enrolled in the fall of 2000.

"I was just absolutely thrilled to be accepted [at CMU]," he says from Los Angeles. "It was an intense program, and I loved it there." The CMU musical theater program is hard to get into, so you better have a good reason for withdrawing. "It was definitely a sacrifice to decide to leave and make the CD," says Groban.

	Audio clips Download an MP3 sound file, edited and optimized for the Web. "Alla Luce del Sole" from the disc Josh Groban on 143 Records. (File size 452K) Download an MP3 sound file, edited and optimized for the Web. "You're Still You" from the disc Josh Groban on 143 Records. (File size 319K) Visit the following sites to download players for Windows or Mac machines to listen to the file: Real Player Microsoft Windows Media Player WinAMP

But the singer could hardly turn down an offer from producer David Foster and Warner Bros. to feature him as an artist. "I knew that a situation like this does not come along in any lifetime, let alone once in a lifetime."

As a teen, Groban had worked with Foster as a rehearsal stand-in for Andrea Bocelli, who was singing at the 1999 Grammys with Celine Dion. Now Groban is being viewed as much more than a temporary substitute in the classical crossover market.

Except that Groban doesn't want that distinction just yet. "I don't think of myself as a classical artist," he says. "We are making very clear to every retail [store] that it's not to be put in the classical bin. I look at these songs as pop."

It's a wise move by Groban. The classical music world expects artists to have artistic maturity as well as technique. Audiences and critics can disregard musicians that only have the latter. Unlike Charlotte Church, who sings on Groban's album, Groban is buying time so that he enters the classical market with more experience. "I haven't sung any arias," he says. "I am a purist myself and I love classical music. I am the first person to say I am not ready to fully do that yet."

Groban's eyeing his future. "It's my strategy of making sure I can be the best singer possible 10 years from now," he says. "I am very careful as to what I sing so that I don't do any damage to my voice at a young age. ... I want to make sure that when I am 30 I can call you and say I did 'Nessun dorma' and it's the right way.

"I have no doubt that in the next five years at some point I will record a classical album. But my voice is changing every five months, let alone a year."

With one song already getting good play on Adult Contemporary radio, he is now working on a re-mix that may put some of the album on Top 40 radio. "There is a definite fine line I will not cross when changing a song," he says. Groban has the help of Foster, a multiple Grammy winner who worked with Chicago, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

Groban hopes to perform in Pittsburgh in the future, and he may even sing the national anthem at the home opener for the Pittsburgh Pirates next season.

As for those other seven semesters he has left at school: "I look forward to that some day, but in terms of vocal training, in terms of being the best performer I can be, what I learned in the last year in the real-life situation has been a great learning tool for me.

"When I first started going to Carnegie Mellon, I didn't know this would happen," he says. "I figured after four years, I'd take it from there and hopefully impress an agent. But it came sooner than that. Most people find they get their big breaks at a time when they weren't expecting them. You have to take them as they come."