A lifelong musician, Michael Drozd has always admired national best-selling pop artist Josh Groban.
So when the 23-year-old Riverhead graduate was offered an opportunity to sing in a choir accompanying Josh Groban at several concerts this summer, he said he was “beyond excited” for the chance to sing beside such an acclaimed musical artist.
“This is definitely the biggest thing I’ve ever done,” Drozd said in an interview yesterday.
Drozd, who is finishing up his senior year at Queens College, was hand-picked by his college choir instructor to sing at four Josh Groban concerts – one at Jones Beach in Nassau County and three in New Jersey.
Drozd performed in the first two concerts last weekend at Jones Beach and Holmdel, New Jersey. The final two concerts will take place next week.
“It was insane and wonderful,” Drozd said. “When we walked in and saw everyone setting up the stage – I just couldn’t believe it. Everyone was so professional.”
Groban often sources local musicians to sing back-up for him at his performances. The 20-person choir performing with him at these four area concerts are all students from Queens College.
“When you’re in college, the academics are tough,” Drozd said. “You wonder if this is what you really want to do – everyone goes through that in college.
“But having this experience has helped solidify that I love what I’m doing, I love what I want to do and I want to continue with it as much as I can,” Drozd said.
Drozd has been singing “pretty much my whole life,” he said yesterday. A 2011 graduate of Riverhead High School, he was an active member of the high school’s theater group, Riverhead Blue Masques, as well as its select choir, Riverhead Chamber Choir.
He is currently finishing up his bachelor’s degree in music at Queens College.
“Music is just something that I feel in my body and my soul and my heart,” he said. “Whether it’s performing or teaching, it’s something I definitely want to do with my life.”
And the chance to sing with an internationally renowned artist like Josh Groban has only stoked that desire, Drozd says.
“Josh Groban is very down to earth,” he said. “He’s so caring and enthusiastic about the people around him, talking to the people who were working with him.”
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