FIVE BY DESIGN was formed as five friends completed their musical studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  Kurt Niska, Sheridan Zuther, Lorie Carpenter (later married to Kurt), Michael Swedberg and Terrence Niska first joined forces as members of the jazz vocal ensemble Hot Jazz while attending college.  Their love of harmony and the music of the Big Band/Swing era led to a desire to pursue their musical careers together and with Hot Jazz founder and manager Alton Accola.

Five by Design’s flagship production Radio Days debuted in the late 1980’s and was well received.  Nearly two decades later it was still receiving accolades as they performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

Commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony, Five by Design added Club Swing to their roster in 2005.  This program follows the rise and fall of the big band era 1937-1955 at the fictional “Club Swing” at the “Hotel Crosby” where the music’s hot, the drinks cool, and the dance floor is always open.   Selections from this production were recorded with a big band headed by Willis Delony, Barrineau Professor of Keyboard Studies and Professor of Jazz Studies at Louisiana State University.  The album was released in 2001.

Due to the popularity of their previous productions, Five by Design debuted their newest show Stay Tuned, directed by Daniel Ellis, in October 2006 with the Arkansas Symphony.  As hosts of their own variety show, they take concert-goers back through the early days of TV by tuning in to the programs that were the mainstay of American culture from 1950 into the early 1960’s.  Stay Tuned proves to be a lightherted and hilarious evening for the whole family.

Five by Design writes their own vocal arrangements.  These are then brought to life by the un-paralleled expertise orchestrators such as Lovell “Oooody” Ives, Professor Emeritus of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay; Willis Delony who frequently serves as conductor/pianist; and Maury Laws, film orchestrator of animated television specials including Frosty, the Snowman and Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Five by Design has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada, averaging 60 performances eacj season.  The ensemble has gained national exposure with appearances on syndicated media broadcasts and in many well known venues.