University of Mary alumni Mat Charley and Joe Berger started playing music together while students at Mary. Now they’re part of a band that is gaining recognition worldwide.
M
at Charley, ’16, wanted to be a musician from a young age. He started playing violin around the age of six and writing songs when he was 13. When he graduated from Bishop Ryan High School in Minot, North Dakota, 6
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he went to the seminary in St. Paul for a year to discern the priesthood. But not long after leaving seminary, his music dreams took him to Los Angeles. “I was trying to make it happen and do music, but I had no money, no contacts,
a car that didn’t work, and a terrible apartment,” Mat said. “After a year there, my mom and sisters convinced me to go finish my college degree and leave Los Angeles. I ended up enrolling at the University of Mary for the spring semester to get a double major in theology and Catholic studies.” Shortly after arriving at Mary, Mat crossed paths with Joe Berger, ’16, a track and field scholar-athlete who was studying business administration and marketing.
