News

Echo Spring Fundraiser
Thursday, February 22, 7-10pm, 2024
Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave. Toronto MAP

You’re invited to join us for a fabulous night of music with
Turkwaz, Echo and other Special Guests!

Tickets $30. can be purchased at the door or on-line here with Zeffy 

Cash bar, free snacks and fabulous Silent Auction!
All proceeds support Echo, a non-profit community choir and registered charity.
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Turkwaz  is Sophia Grigoriadis, Jayne Brown, Maryem Tollar and Brenna MacCrimmon, four vocalists who individually have contributed widely to the Toronto world music scene and beyond. Their work together focuses on interpretations of songs primarily from Greek, Turkish, Arabic and Balkan traditions with forays into other genres when the inspiration moves them.

With gentle accompaniment provided by qanun, tambura, ukulele and various forms of hand percussion, the songs and the voices remain front and center.
Their debut album “Nazar” was nominated for a 2017 Juno, two CFMAs and made the Top of the World list in Songlines magazine in April 2018.

They have performed at the National Arts Center and Chamberfest in Ottawa, Calgary Folk Festival, Open Ears Festival (Kitchener), Silence  (Guelph), Mill Race Festival (Cambridge), Shelter Valley Folk Festival (Grafton),  Mission Folk Festival (BC), Summerfolk (Owen Sound), Cultura (North York), Luminato (Toronto), as well as at numerous venues in and around Toronto including the Small World Centre, The Burdock, COC Bradshaw Amphitheatre and the Aga Khan Museum.

  
 www.echochoir.ca   
Echo is grateful for the ongoing support of the Toronto Arts Council.

Thank you for a great concert!
Sunday, December 3, 2023 7:30- 9:30pm
19 Trinity Square, Toronto, beside the Eaton Centre, Accessible MAP

Join us for our Winter Concert, Love is the Greatest Gift, with Special Guest Andrew Craig
part of the ECHO!! Revived, Canada Council project.
Artistic Director: Alan Gasser
Assistant Conductor: Katie White

Echo acknowledges the generous support of the Toronto Arts Council & Canada Council for the Arts

Echo is sponsoring a very special workshop with renowned choirleader and composer Bongani Magatyana who is coming to Canada in October. Echo Choir has grabbed the opportunity to offer special public workshops with him, open to adults and teens of all voices and genders.

Renowned choirleader and composer Bongani Magatyana is coming to Canada in October, and the Echo Choir has grabbed the opportunity to offer a special public workshop with him, open to adults and teens of all voices and genders.

Mr Magatyana is a regular teacher with Village Harmony in the US. He leads choirs at home in Cape Town, and his beautiful and intricate choral pieces have been commissioned and sung by groups around the world, including Harvard University’s choirs.This workshop will feature songs in English and Xhosa, with beautiful harmonies in South African traditions.

The weekend workshop Oct. 27-29 event will take place at the Church of the Holy Trinity (beside the Eaton Centre, S-E Door) MAP
Holy Trinity is a fully accessible space, with accessible washrooms.

Specific times are 7PM-9PM on Friday Oct 27, 10AM-4PM on Sat Oct 28, and 1PM-4PM on Sun Oct 29. Tea/coffee will be provided on Saturday and Sunday. (Note that meals are otherwise not provided, nor is accommodation.)
Cost is $100 per person. Register below:

Register online here.

If you have questions, contact Rachel Bokhout (rachel.bokhout@gmail.com), who is organizing this event.
We hope that you can join us for this special weekend. facebook event page

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 7-9pm at Holy Trinity
Echo will also be hosting an open workshop with Bongani as part of our regular rehearsal plan.
For or those of you who cannot make the weekend workshops. Everyone is welcome!
Contact Anne if you’d like to join us: info.echo@gmail.com
PWYC suggested $15. cash in hat or by e-trans.

Join Echo for a workshop with Andrew Craig. at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 19 Trinity Square, Toronto
by the Eaton Centre, Accessible, S-E Door MAP
All are welcome. This workshop is geared toward treble voices, free to Echo Members,
Guests PWYC suggested $15. cash in hat style or e-transfer (see below).

Andrew is the final guest artist to be featured in ECHO!! Revived, our eighteen month-long digital project funded by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Echo is very excited to host Andrew, a talented and versatile musician—singer, instrumentalist, composer and arranger, teacher—to name a few of his many creative activities. He has directed the music for Harbourfront’s tribute to Quincy Jones, performed twice for Nelson Mandela, and contributed to the public tribute for the late Oscar Peterson in 2008.

In 2013, Andrew founded Culchahworks Arts Collective, a Toronto-based arts organization that celebrates figures and events from African-Canadian, Caribbean-Canadian and African-American  cultural legacies. Dr. Martin Luther King, Bob Marley and Harry Belafonte have received large-scale tributes. Through Culchahworks, and in partnership with the Toronto District School Board, Andrew created the Warriors’ Chorus choir, as a way for young people of colour, who face unique challenges, to reclaim their heritage.

Andrew will be our Special Guest Artist at the Echo Dec. 3 Winter Concert, 7:30pm at Holy Trinity.

*e-transfer payment to  echotransfer3@gmail.com
Question: What makes us happy? Answer: singing

This fall 2023 we are looking forward to workshops and winter concert with special guest artist Andrew Craig.

Andrew is the final guest artist to be featured in ECHO!! Revived, our eighteen month-long digital project funded by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Echo is very excited to host Andrew, a talented and versatile musician—singer, instrumentalist, composer and arranger, teacher—to name a few of his many creative activities. He has directed the music for Harbourfront’s tribute to Quincy Jones, performed twice for Nelson Mandela, and contributed to the public tribute for the late Oscar Peterson in 2008.

In 2013, Andrew founded Culchahworks Arts Collective, a Toronto-based arts organization that celebrates figures and events from African-Canadian, Caribbean-Canadian and African-American  cultural legacies. Dr. Martin Luther King, Bob Marley and Harry Belafonte have received large-scale tributes. Through Culchahworks, and in partnership with the Toronto District School Board, Andrew created the Warriors’ Chorus choir, as a way for young people of colour, who face unique challenges, to reclaim their heritage.

Andrew will be conducting a workshop with Echo on Saturday, September 30 and will perform in Echo’s winter concert on Sunday, December 3. Echo will produce a high quality concert recording.

We are very grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Now grant, which made possible the ECHO!! Revived workshops and the filming of this concert.

photo: Kenneth Chou

Thank you Annabelle for a great workshop!
Join us for a community choral singing workshop with singer-songwriter, fiddler and composer Annabelle Chvostek. In-person and Zoom 

Date and time  Saturday, Feb. 25, 10:00am-12:30pm, Toronto EST, 2023
Join Zoom Meeting

Location 
Church of the Holy Trinity 19 Trinity Square, MAP  (beside the Eaton Centre, accessible)
Echo is thrilled to be working with Annabelle Chvostek as a guest artist this term. 
Chvostek is a Toronto-based singer-songwriter, composer and producer whose musical achievements range from folk to jazz to indie pop. She has composed music for dance and film, co-written songs and toured with Bruce Cockburn, and was once in the band The Wailin’ Jennys. 
Annabelle will be teaching Echo and friends some new music. Sponsored by the Echo Choir as part of our Canada Council for the Arts ECHO!! Revived grant project, this workshop is open to adult and teen singers of all genders and all (or no!) experience. You do not need to be able to read music to participate. 

Participants are welcome in-person or on Zoom.
In-person participants are asked to wear masks. 

Payment: suggested $15. Or PWYC, cash in hat style, or 
Tickets can be purchased here: Eventbrite