The choir started out as a class at St. Cloud State University.  Doc's original group at St. Cloud was called the Rivermen, and was a men-only choral class you could take from the College.  At some point in the late-ninties, the Rivermen and the female choir at the time merged, forming the University Singers.

Offered as a class and cast in a secondary choir choice by the school, it was often overlooked, but by virtue of Doc's skill in vocal instruction, and the choir's devotion to him, they quickly became a premier performance group in St. Cloud and beyond.  The charisma of the choir, combined with the unique reperetoire, led both to crowds that would follow us wherever we performed and to choir members who would stay in the choir long after they had graduated. 

Originally, as a class, the University Singers met three times a week with one optional workshop hour.  The workshop hour was usually attended by anyone who needed to miss a rehearsal during the week, or members who were not registered for the class and had conflicts with the daytime schedule.  Eventually, the choir's membership grossly mismatched our class enrollment (for about 30 people in the choir, we had 5 enrolled), so we made the decision to split off from the school and start a non-profit corporation with the state of MN.   We began rehearsing at a church in St. Cloud once a week for several hours.

Eventually, we had enough of a contingent of choir members living in the Twin Cities to split our rehearsals, in an effort to make the choir more accessible to members.  We now rehearse in Maple Grove on Thursdays, and in St. Cloud on Tuesdays.