In the time it takes a student to earn a Bachelor’s degree, Reverse Osmosis earned a legacy.

Reverse Osmosis was founded in January of 2001 by Brendan Jennings and Kimmie Raschka. The original nine members of RO gave their first performance in a science lecture hall, unaware that their humble beginning would soon place them among the best in collegiate a cappella. On their 1-year Anniversary, RO won the 2002 Absolut A Cappella competition. Later that year, RO put out their first album, Aural Pleasure, under the production of a cappella mastermind Gabriel Mann. All in all, a fun underclassman experience spent learning the ropes, building numbers and increasing their fan base.

Their proverbial upperclassman experience would prove more impressive.  

In 2003, Reverse Osmosis released Fifty Million Reverse Osmosis Fans Can’t Be Wrong, an album that won a CARA for Groove is in the Heart. RO also packed their bags for a West Coast tour, stopping at a cappella hotspots Stanford and the University of Oregon. They didn’t sing much on that tour, but did bond through speeding tickets, huddling around matches for warmth in Ghirardelli Square, and trespassing along the I-5 in hopes of winning a fierce scavenger hunt.

Braver now, RO ventured to the East Coast for their 2004 tour, a trip which included staying in an empty one hundred year-old mansion and singing for a plane full of Southwest Airlines passengers. And they did sing a lot more this time – at Times Square, and with many renowned east coast groups. Despite their achievements and progress, the group was still overcome with shock and delight at the fortune 2004-2005 would bring. As fall settled over campus, FoRo Heather Kennedy screened her documentary Rock and R.O., a sentimental, amusing, entertaining behind-the-scenes look at all that is Reverse Osmosis. January kicked-off with the release of Purity Guaranteed and an invitation to the ICCA West Coast Semi-Final. In February, the group sang for Andy Garcia, Tom Foley, and our childhood icon Winnie Cooper ( Danica McKellar) during a promotion for Rock and R.O. When March hit, the group powered their way to a 1 st place finish out of 12 able groups during round one of the ICCA Semis and slipped into summer by graduating the last members who sang on Aural Pleasure - a moving finish to an incredible start.  

Now seasoned performers, the members of Reverse Osmosis are moving on to bigger ventures. In May of 2005, they sang in the company of Roy Disney for the Los Angeles screening of Dream On, Silly Dreamer , a documentary which tells the history of Disney hand-drawn animation. Today, RO continues to secure “the big gigs” while making progress on their 4 th album.