“It’s been a long and winding road from managing a restaurant to performing at the White House,” said senior performance major Adam Strube. In early December, Strube’s bass voice resonated through the corridors of the White House, entertaining visitors with songs of the season. He was accompanied by pianist Carl Ruck, M.M. ’81, who had heard Strube singing with the College choir and encouraged him to audition for the White House gig. Ruck described the scene: “He had the audience completely mesmerized and literally stopped traffic in the room where he was singing because the guests lingered to hear him sing multiple songs. At one point I would estimate that 50 guests froze in their places while he entertained them.”
“I’m not a traditional student by any stretch of the term,” said Strube, who was 25 when he started his studies in the School of Music three years ago. The years between graduating from high school and enrolling in a four-year college were, for Strube, an odyssey of experiences that included a stint at Suffolk Community College on his native Long Island, an unsuccessful audition at Ithaca College in 2001, and multiple jobs including those of carpenter, bank teller, waiter, and restaurant manager.
