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 For Abbe Groh, B.S. Music ’10, it all started in Salem, Oregon, in the third grade. That year she participated in a musical play about Thomas Edison. It was love at first solo. Now Groh has recently completed her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at OSU. A student of Nicola Nine-Zielke, she sang her first opera role, Gianetta in Act II of The Elixir of Love, during her first term at OSU. That performance led to key roles over the next few years in major musical productions on campus including Yum Yum in The Mikado, Kate in Pirates of Penzance, Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, and Dr. Isabelle Snug in the world premiere musical Spin, where she appeared on stage with professional actor and Emmy winner, David Ogden Stiers.

But there have been lots of other roles in the life of Abbe Groh. At OSU, Groh made honor roll several times, maintaining a 3.5 or higher GPA. She sang in the OSU Chamber Choir for three years and was involved in several OSU Opera Workshop productions, singing roles such as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, and Tisbe in La Cenerentola. She was also the mezzo-soprano soloist in Handel’s “Dixit Dominus.” She was a music department scholarship recipient in 2008 through 2010 and in 2009 she received the Robert B. Walls Scholarship in recognition of her contribution to choral singing at OSU.

Acting on a recommendation from an acquaintance, and with no prior pageant experience, Groh won Miss Linn-Benton in 2009 and went on to become Miss Portland 2010. She has competed for Miss Oregon within the Miss America organization twice.  She raised more than $2,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network, the national platform of the Miss America organization. As Miss Linn-Benton, she worked with Oregon Green Schools giving presentations about “going green” to elementary school children. As Miss Portland, she was actively involved in the SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) program.

Groh also has had a lot of success on the internet with a YouTube channel called “Abbegirl.” Her short, comedic videos have been viewed more than 4.5 million times combined. This YouTube success landed her an audition and a pilot episode with MTV in New York.

Groh isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Over the summer she participated in the Astoria Music Festival Apprentice Program and later took second place in the Polk County (Oregon) Fair talent show singing “The Song That Goes like This” from “Spamalot” with Scott Ingham, another OSU music alumnus. She has also been busy preparing for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in October. 

So where does Abbe see herself in five years? “I might be finished with a master’s degree in vocal performance and either be participating in a young artist program or beginning my career as a professional opera singer. Or, I might be collecting millions in advertising revenue from my YouTube videos. Or both. Whichever way, my performance experience and the knowledge I’ve gained at OSU have made it clear to me that I love to be in the spotlight and it has also given me more of the confidence I need to pursue a performance career,” Groh said.

Courtesy of: Musically Speaking (OSU Music Department News Magazine)

To see the full article: http://oregonstate.edu/cla/music/student-spotlights#abbe