The first Grove City College Touring Choir was organized in the fall of 1959 by Professor Oscar Cooper, with five stated purposes:

            1.   To minister to others through the medium of music;
            2.   To enable the members to share in the joy of singing;
            3.   To create in others a greater appreciation and love of music;
            4.   To inform the public about Grove City College;
            5.   To augment each member's education through travel, fellowship, and public contact.

In order to achieve these objectives, the choir decided to travel to nearby schools and churches to present choral programs, as well as to embark on an annual tour over spring break.  The choir achieved success its first year, and has been a part of Grove City College life ever since.

In addition to concerts in the western Pennsylvania area, the choir has visited virtually every state east of the Mississippi River during previous tours.  The choir has performed in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore and Detroit.  Some notable appearances of the choir in its earlier years include concerts at the 1961 Presbyterian National General Assembly in Buffalo, the Senate Office Building in Washington D.C., Easter Sunrise Services with Billy Graham in Miami's Marine Stadium, and a performance at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  The Touring Choir performed for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Annual Conferences in 1984, 1986, 1990, 1997, 2004, and 2009 and the Music Educators National Conference Eastern Division Conventions in 1987 and 1991.  In April of 2001 the choir sang for the Palm Sunday services at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.  In February of 2002 the choir performed at the Eastern Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association.  Since 2002, the choir has also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Wheeling (WV) Symphony Orchestra, and the Erie (PA) Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the summer of 2000 a group of forty-five alumni of the Touring Choir took a two-week trip to Europe and presented programs in a variety of locations including Melk Abby, Wieskirche, The Salzburg Cathedral, and Notre Dame.  In the summer of 2005 the alumni choir toured the British Isles, singing in Edinborough, Scotland; Dublin, Ireland; Wells Cathedral; Bath Abbey; and Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London.      

 Membership in Grove City College Touring Choir is determined by an audition of interested students at the beginning of the school year.  Members come from many different academic disciplines and choose the Touring Choir as a co-curricular activity.