The Ellis Street Singers began in 1969 under the direction of Dr. Al Wortman. Many students had the idea to form the group and asked Dr. Wortman if he would lead them. The group consisted of members from Mankato State College who where full time students interested in music. There was a yearly audition to be a part of the Ellis Street Singers, as well as to be in the band that played for the group. The Ellis Street Singers consisted of usually 12-16 singers and 1-6 musicians, but the numbers varied each year. The selections the Ellis Street Singers performed were popular music from the time, jazz music, and musical theater pieces. These pieces were selected by the students. Every Christmas, for the last 20 years of the group, the Ellis Street Singers performed shows at Cannon Falls, often up to 22 shows over the holiday season. The group would perform throughout Southern Minnesota and always included a trip over spring break or at the end of the year. Over the years, the group went to many different performance locations including Canada, Mount Rushmore, New Orleans, New York, Australia, and two goodwill tours to the Soviet Union. The 1995-1996 academic years were the last years of the Ellis Street Singers due to the retirement of Dr. Wortman. For the last Christmas Concert at Cannon Falls, the Ellis Street Singers performed songs they had done in previous years, and had Ellis Street Alumni come and sing with them. There have also been a few reunions of the Ellis Street Singers.

This information was compiled from the Ellis Street Singers Collection and an interview with Dr. Wortman.

Choir as a class for credits began in the 1971-1972 academic year. This group was an audition based group that performed on campus as well as throughout the area. In 1981, the group became known as Concert Choir, but still had the same premise as Choir. Dr. Wortman led the first Concert Choir group on campus and continued to direct the Concert Choir through 1991.The Concert Choir performed classical music, which was mostly religious. Sometimes the music was spiritual in nature, but the group never performed ‘pop’ music. This group is still ongoing today.

This information was compiled from the Mankato State University Bulletin and the 1971 Katonian. For more information about the Music department, please see https://hss.mnsu.edu/academic-programs/music/