Sopranos
Sarah Ellis
Voice Part: Soprano
Major: Musical Theatre
Sarah Ellis is a Junior music theatre major at PSU. She enjoys kicking her face, creating macaroni art of compromising positions. and constantly raising the stakes in her life. She has been seen onstage as a Regina George incarnate in Dog Sees God and shopping in a parfumerie in She Loves Me. Sarah is active in School of Theatre THON as well as in various student-run projects and performances. Thanks to the Shades family for being such great friends and collegues!
Samantha Hughes
Voice part: Soprano galore
Major: Being really really ridiculously good looking.
Title: Co-business manager
I am proud to be the first alumni who was cool enough to stay in the group post-graduation. I graduated in May, and now I am a top notch, world renowned biologist. I am currently working on developing and transvecting a strand of zombie dna into Burmese pythons. You really never know when a hoard of zombie pythons could come in handy...
Veronica Garza
Voice Part:Soprano
Major: Theatre
Veronica is a Junior Theatre Major who likes anything brightly colored and the Chicago Cubs! This is her first and only A Capella group experience.
"If there is no singing, dancing, or yelling, I don't want to do it."
Hannah Van Nest
Altos
Rachel Dungan
Rachel Dungan is a graduate of Parkland High School, and is currently in her 4th year at Penn State. She's an SHC scholar, studying Biobehavioral Health and Music Composition, and is pursuing a minor in Civic & Community Engagement. Rachel is currently the president of PSU's Essence of Joy, and is also a member of the Chamber Singers, GlobeMed and the Shotokan Karate Club.
Alyssa Gagarin
Concert Manager
Voice Part: Alto
Major: Musical Theatre
Alyssa is a Musical Theatre major from Bethesda, Maryland who loves a cappella music. She is thrilled to be a part of Shades of Blue at Penn State. She was also excited to contribute to the redhead population of the group, a unique trait of Shades. Alyssa enjoys singing and dancing around her room like Tom Cruise in "Risky Business".
Audrey Cardwell
Major:Musical Theatre
Audrey Cardwell is a Junior Musical Theatre major from Birmingham Alabama. She is thrilled to be a part of Shades of Blue after having absolutely no prior experience with a cappella music! She has been cast in the School of Musical Theatre's production of Peter Pan as Peter Pan this year. Audrey enjoys apple cider and luxury vanilla wafers.
Christina Jackson
Librarian
Major: Musical Theater
Title: Librarian
Christina Jackson (that girl who looks 12) is actually a sophomore Musical Theater major from Cincinnati, Ohio. She was involved in her high school’s A Cappella choir, but Shades performs cooler music. Some of her favorite things include: fruit snacks, color-coded school supplies, inspirational quotes, ribbons, ice cream, juice boxes (...oh wait. I am 12...), playing guitar, and watching So You Think You Can Dance. Thanks to her family and all of her wonderful friends in Shades!
Lorraine Schule
Public Relations
Voice Part: Alto
Major: Business Marketing
Title: Card Holder
Lorraine is a Junior at Penn State, majoring in Business Marketing, with a double minor in International Business and Business Law. This is her third year in Shades, and she loooooves it. Besides Shadsey Shades, she is a sister in Zeta Tau Alpha, an active member of the Penn State Marketing Association, runs on the Penn State Club Track and Field Team, and participates heavily in the Penn State Dance MaraTHON. Lorraine also loves singing Norah Jones to relax, dancing like the cops on Reno 911 to get pumped, and reppin' her wonderful home state, New York.
Tenors
Dan Brein
Voice Part: Tenor, Baritone
Title: Assistant Director
Daniel Brein is a senior and musically under-qualified assistant Director of Shades of Blue. Nobody is really sure why or how he obtained the position... In fact, I think people are kinda pissed about it.
"Dude, shut up, he's right over there... I'm pretty sure he heard you... this is awkward."
He also likes gushers.
Jeremy Greenbaum
Voice Part: Tenor
Major: Musical Theatre
Jeremy Greenbaum is a senior musical theatre major from Philadelphia. He loves chocolate chip cookies and hates tacets.
Jeremy has been a member of Shades since his first semester freshman year and plans to continue to infinity and beyond...
Jim Hogan
Major: Musical Theatre
Jim Hogan is a Sophomore Musical Theatre Major from just outside of Philadelphia in Abington, PA, but is currently taking a year off to perform in a tour of Spring Awakening!
Jim's a cappella background comes from being a founding member of Nameless 9, a contemporary a cappella group from the Hatsboro-Horshamm, PA area. He is extremely proud and excited to be with Shades of Blue, and arranged many of Shades of Blue's new songs for this year.
Paul Langdon
Voice Part: Tenor 2
Major: Information Science and Technology
Webmaster for Shades of Blue
Paul Langdon is a Senior studying Information Science and Technology so he can make the big bucks and his friends studying Musical Theatre will have a place to sleep until they hit it big. He has been singing since he was talking, and is also part or the ensemble Essence of Joy on campus. He designed this website and the SOB fan page on Facebook.
**note: also goes by Lou and Ron Stoppable.
Blake Stadnik
Major: Musical Theatre
Blake Stadnik is a Sophomore at BFA Musical Theatre student. He is from Pittsburg, PA, and enjoys spending time with his family, his friends at PSU, and his dog, Scooter. One day, he hopes to attend grad school at either Juilliard or Yale for drama.
Basses
Jake Yarmoff
Voice Part: Baritone
Major: Finance
I love music. Because I have perfect pitch, I hear music everywhere I go- from cellphone beeps to car horns. It's not always pretty. For example, about fifteen seconds ago, I just heard the ugliest sounding ambulance siren I've ever heard (there was a really off-sounding C# in there somewhere...). I have been playing guitar for ten years, singing since before birth, and participating in musical theater for the last five years. A couple of my goals with Shades by the end of my four years are to have had some kind of lasting impact on the group, and to have arranged some rockin' tunes. I have only been part of Shades for a few weeks, but I am already having an incredible time with some of the most friendly and talented people I know.
Devron Lovick
Drew Bastian
Voice Part: Bass
Major: Integrated Arts
Drew Bastian is a senior Integrative Arts major studying percussion and theatre. Recently he blogged on his livejournal "Excited to have just joined Shades of Blue! Is anyone reading this? Really? Does anyone even know this site still exists?" He has been actively singing since about 1998 when wild boy bands still roamed the Earth. When not drumming he can be found outside Bill Emhof's door crying out in unrequited love. He does not respond to the names Brew Dastian, Drewbag, D-Bizzle, or Pika-Drew and hopes no one ever finds out about these horrifying nicknames.
Bill Emhof
Voice Part: Bass, Vocal Percussion
Major: Music Composition
Title: Co-business manager
Bill Emhof is a senior music composition major at the Pennsylvania State University. This is his third year with Shades, so his superiority complex is certainly well deserved. In addition to being a bass, Bill is the vocal percussionist for Shades and has been spittin' mad beatz since he was a young tough on the streets of his suburb, Pennington, NJ. When he isn't in Shades (which is rare) Bill enjoys most music related things, movies, curling up by a nice warm fire with his favorite book; Twilight, and stealing candy from babies. If you dare ask him how he beat boxes, he'll simply reply "Very carefully..."
Mark Lehnowsky
Director
Once upon a time, way back in the fall of 2003, Mark Lehnowsky was looking for something to do. You see, this was back in the "bad years" of Penn State football, so all the time he now spends on ESPN is now wasted. "What," he thought, "is a good substitute for my football obsession?" Of course there was only one answer: a cappella.
So he went forth and gathered before him a band of misfits. Shades of Blue was born. Since it still satisfies his Paterno complex, he continues to direct the group. Someday, after the longest tenure with one group in collegiate a cappella history, he will leave Shades and Penn State, but not yet. And not next year. And maybe not the year after. Sound like anyone else you know?
