Join us Sunday, December 8, 7:30pm at Holy Trinity Church MAP 19 Trinity Square (Dundas Subway, beside the Eaton Centre, main doors & accessible-south door)
Tickets: $30 Adult, $20 Seniors, Children, PWYC Purchase here or cash at the door.
Echo Women’s Choir, invites you and your loved ones to a celebration of community through harmony. We raise our voices in hope, to bring resilience to a troubled world. We’ll have refreshments and raffle baskets. Bring some cash!
Echo, Peace by Chocolate Fall Fundraiser 2024, Thank you for your support! Orders are now closed. We’ll let you know when they’re ready for pick upin early December and the East and West End locations.
Hello Echo Friends, Echo is proud to be partnering again with Peace by Chocolate, a company founded by a Syrian family, whose chocolate business in their homeland was destroyed by war. When they settled in Antigonish, Nova Scotia as refugees they rebuilt their chocolate company and founded Peace by Chocolate in 2016. The company supports a range of non profit organizations and 3 – 5% of all company returns is now donated to the Peace on Earth Society, an organization registered in 2018 in Nova Scotia that contributes to peace building projects around the world, including wildfire relief in Canada. This fundraiser will be supporting Echo as well as Peace by Chocolate peace initiatives. Echo makes 15-20% profit!
Join us Sunday, December 8, 7:30pm at Holy Trinity Church MAP Tickets: $30 Adult, $20 Seniors, Children, PWYC Purchase Tickets here or cash at the door. Echo Women’s Choir, invites you and your loved ones to a celebration of community through harmony. We raise our voices in hope, to bring resilience to a troubled world. We’ll have refreshments and raffle baskets. Bring some cash!
Echo, Peace by Chocolate Fall Fundraiser 2024, Thank you for your support!
Echo, Peace by Chocolate Fall Fundraiser 2024, Thank you for your support!Orders are now closed. We’ll let you know when they’re ready for pick upin early December and the East and West End locations.
Hello Echo Friends, Echo is proud to be partnering again with Peace by Chocolate, a company founded by a Syrian family, whose chocolate business in their homeland was destroyed by war. When they settled in Antigonish, Nova Scotia as refugees they rebuilt their chocolate company and founded Peace by Chocolate in 2016. The company supports a range of non profit organizations and 3 – 5% of all company returns is now donated to the Peace on Earth Society, an organization registered in 2018 in Nova Scotia that contributes to peace building projects around the world, including wildfire relief in Canada. This fundraiser will be supporting Echo as well as Peace by Chocolate peace initiatives. Echo makes 15-20% profit!
Echo Year-round Fundraiser Details:
Chocosol & TRU EARTH
From October 10th through November 10th , you and your supporters can save 20% on your entire order and help your fundraiser earn 20% on every purchase made through your Tru Earth fundraising link: https://tru-earth.sjv.io/EchoChoirToronto
Here’s how it works:
Shop & Save: Use code: Save20 at checkout to enjoy 20% off your entire order.
Support Your Cause: Every purchase through your fundraising link will earn 20% for your organization!
ChocoSol & Echo Fundraiser year-round! Support Echo and enjoy the food of the Gods!
This is a new initiative that will be available year-round! When you order coffee and chocolate from ChocoSol Traders:You get a 15% discount from the retail price Echo gets 15% of all sales More details Here
Echo Fall & Spring Season 2024 Details
It’s too late to join this season but you can join us for next season in January. The fall season is underway at New Horizons Tower. lower level Friendship Room accessible, 1140 Bloor St W (Bloor/Dufferin subway) MAP
More Details:
*Our December dress rehearsal and concert 7:30pm Sunday, Dec. 8 will be at Holy Trinity Church
Echo provides a strong, inclusive, mutually supportive community in the heart of Toronto for women who love to sing. The choir is committed to a unique and eclectic repertoire with a focus on social justice, musical excellence and passionate expression. We collaborate frequently with musicians who enrich our repertoire with music from a range of genres and diverse cultures.
Now in our 33rd year, Echo is a community choir open to all women who can make the rehearsal commitment. Echo loves singing folk music from around the world, celebrating all the cultural traditions that are alive and vibrant in our city. We are social-justice oriented, audition-free, and anyone can join!
Rehearsals will be on Tuesdays 7-9pm and the occasional Saturday. We’ll have a workshop, open rehearsal, orientation for new members, sectionals, break-end singing and more!
Season Fees are $200. (Sept. – Dec.) & ($200. Jan. – May) We strive to make singing accessible for everyone. Echo has a sliding scale policy.
Echo Conductor Emerita Becca Whitla returns to Echo to lead a Workshop. Saturday, Oct. 5,10am-12:30pm at Holy Trinity Church MAP 10 Trinity Square (Dundas Subway, beside the Eaton Centre accessible) Tickets: $20. Purchase here or PWYC (cash in hat at workshop)
All are welcome to join Becca and the choir as she shares some of her favourite songs and introduces a couple of new beauties. And we’ll have tea & snacks!
Becca Whitla is the professor of practical ministry and the Dr. Lydia E. Gruchy Chair in Pastoral Theology at St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where she teaches worship and liturgy, preaching, religious education, and practical theology.
Her book Liberation, (De)Coloniality, and Liturgical Practices: Flipping the Song Bird was released in December, 2020 (Palgrave McMillan). From her White Euro-Canadian settler perspective, she examines ways to decolonize liturgical practices, especially community singing.
She worked in Toronto for many years as a music director in both Anglican and United Churches (Church of the Holy Trinity, and Trinity St Paul’s United Church). She also co-directed Echo, a 70 voice women’s choir, and worked in the trade union movement developing leadership through choral singing.
Echo is a group of harmonizing women who love to sing, directed by well-respected community music leaders Alan Gasser and Katie White. Echo provides a strong, inclusive, mutually supportive community in the heart of Toronto for women who love to sing. The choir is committed to a unique and eclectic repertoire with a focus on social justice, musical excellence and passionate expression. We collaborate frequently with musicians who enrich our repertoire with music from a range of genres and diverse cultures. We have a spring and fall season. Contact Anne if you have any questions or would like to join us:info.echo@gmail.com www.echochoir.ca
Our fall season begins on January 14, 2025 at Holy Trinity Church, by the Eaton Centre, accessible south doors. 19 Trinity Square, Dundas Subway StationMap
Now in our 34th year, Echo is a community choir open to all women who can make the rehearsal commitment. Echo loves singing folk music from around the world, celebrating all the cultural traditions that are alive and vibrant in our city. We are social-justice oriented, audition-free, and anyone can join!
Rehearsals will be on Tuesdays and the occasional Saturday. We’ll have a workshop, open rehearsal, orientation for new members, sectionals, break-end singing and more!
Season Fees are $200. (Jan. – May Spring Concert) We strive to make singing accessible for everyone. Echo has a sliding scale policy.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 3pm Church of the Holy Trinity 19 Trinity Square, Toronto next to the Eaton Centre
Sunday, May 5, 3pm Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto, beside the Eaton Centre 19 Trinity Square, Accessible MAP Tickets $25. purchase here with Zeffy $15. Seniors, Children Underwaged PWYC (or cash at door) Don’t forget to bring some cash to buy raffle baskets tickets!
david seredais a singer-songwriter whose moving music has been heard in concerts and festivals across Canada. Whether a cappella, solo at the piano, or with his stellar ensemble, david’s joy of singing is irresistible. His unique songs draw from folk, gospel, soul, jazz and pop. His lyrics are rich in meaning and emotion. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta he now lives in Grey County, Ontario near Georgian Bay. “david sereda’s range as a singer-songwriter is breathtaking.” (The Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, NS)
Behnaz McCallum is a relatively new member, having joined Echo in the fall of 2023. She is very enthusiastic about the singing with the choir, and agreed to share her impressions with others who might be looking for a similar experience.
Behnaz is a retired audiologist with over thirty years of experience, twenty of which were spent working in a private hearing clinic. She is definitely an auditory person. Behnaz holds a graduate degree from Tehran University and a doctorate from the Arizona School of Health Sciences. She found helping people with their communication problems very rewarding, but took early retirement during the Covid pandemic. Behnaz now has time for a wide range of activities including painting, studying piano, and singing. She practices yoga and meditation daily, as she has for many years.
Although she had never sung in a choir before joining Echo, Behnaz plays the Persian frame drum, or Daf. This instrument is used in folk music, and is an important component of Sufi music, which is very spiritual and uplifting.
Behnaz learned about Echo through a newspaper ad. She had always wanted to sing in a choir, and the fact that Echo is a women’s choir and requires no experience and no audition appealed to her. She became a member and participated in her first concert In December, which she found to be a lot of fun.
Following is an excerpt from our conversation.
Echo: What do you like about singing with Echo?
BM: When I started going to rehearsals, I thought, this is what I want: some community, different kinds of music, progressive music; when you care about different people with different orientations, that’s nice…I like the songs, the repertoire. There is always an interesting mix of music. Last season I liked guest artists Andrew Craig and the gentleman from South Africa [Bongani Magatyana]. When Andrew played that drum …I was jumping up and down. I kind of let go…I never sang in front of people before… but the choir actually holds you. I felt supported, and held by the choir and I just let go.…I feel very joyful when I sing.
Echo: You lead a very busy life in retirement, taking care of mind, body and soul. In addition to singing with Echo, you also study piano and paint. Can you talk a little about this?
BM: I have done Persian calligraphy in the past. After attending a painting class in Alberta during a visit with relatives, I found a class with the TDSB [Toronto District School Board] and started drawing and painting. I haven’t stopped yet. I enjoy the colours…I work from a picture and put my own impression in it. With no place to store canvases, I started painting on paper. I don’t paint to sell.
Echo: Do you have any suggestions on how to improve Echo? Is there anything you would like to see?
BM: I enjoy what we do, but I would like to do more socializing. Food is a way to connect. I enjoyed the ice breakers at the beginning of the session. They gave us a chance to get to know each other.
I’m glad I found this group. If something doesn’t come up, I will be a member for a long, long time.
Behnaz lives in Toronto with her husband and their Beagle Terrier, Piper.
Saturday, March 23, 10am to 3pm Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto, beside the Eaton Centre 19 Trinity Square, Accessible MAP Cost $30. Purchase ticket here with Zeffy or sliding scale cash at door. Pot-luck lunch, bring something to share.
david will lead us through call and response as we learn inspiring traditional and new songs by ear, no music reading required. From his original songs about our volatile time to Spirituals that carried Freedom Seekers along the Underground Railroad, this is music to move your hearts and minds.
The workshop begins with a thorough warmup to wake up and tune in to our voices, breathing and bodies. Come and be part of a daylong community chorus – and feel the joy of connecting through music.
david sereda is a singer-songwriter whose moving music has been heard in concerts and festivals across Canada. Whether a cappella, solo at the piano, or with his stellar ensemble, david’s joy of singing is irresistible. His unique songs draw from folk, gospel, soul, jazz and pop. His lyrics are rich in meaning and emotion. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta he now lives in Grey County, Ontario near Georgian Bay. “david sereda’s range as a singer-songwriter is breathtaking.” (The Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, NS)
