Anne Stanley

Echo Spring Season Invite Details. Join us!

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Join us for a season of singing with Echo on Tuesday
January 14, 7-9pm 2025 at Holy Trinity Church MAP & Directions
19 Trinity Square, Toronto at Dundas Subway, beside the Eaton Centre. 
(accessible south/side door) $5 evening parking under Bell Trinity Square, entrance on the east side of Bay, north of Queen.

Rehearsals are on Tuesdays and the occasional Saturday. See season schedule bottom.
Activities include an open rehearsal/welcome tea (Jan. 28), orientation for new
members, sectionals, break-end singing, a workshop, May concert and singing at grassroots
community events throughout the year!

Echo established in 1991 is a group of harmonizing women of all
ages and from all backgrounds directed by Alan Gasser and Katie White.
We are non-auditioned. The ability to read music is helpful but not required.
We are accessible to all through both sliding scale
membership fees and concert tickets.

What we sing: traditional folk songs from around the world, original Canadian
compositions, diverse spiritual music, socially conscious music about women, peace,
environmental justice with musical excellence and passionate expression.

Season Fees are $200. (Jan. – May.)
echotransfer3@gmail.com automated (please note spring dues)
We strive to make singing accessible for everyone.
Echo has a sliding scale policy. We also accepts donations through
CanadaHelps

If you would like to sing with us or have questions
contact Anne: info.echo@gmail.com
www.echochoir.ca 
photo: David Lister, Winter Concert 2024

Echo Spring Schedule 2025

*All at Church of the Holy Trinity

January   

Tues. 14   *all Tuesdays 7-9pmarrive 6:30pm?

Tues. 21   Orientation for new members

Tues. 28   Open Rehearsal & Welcome Tea

February

Tues. 4  

Tues. 11 

Tues. 18
Tues. 25

March none on March 11, for March Break

Tues. 4 

Thurs. 6 Echo Spring Fundraiser at the Tranzac Club 

Tues. 18  

Tues. 25

 April

Tues. 1

Tues. 8 

Tues. 15

Tues. 22

Tues. 29

some Saturday tba 10am – 12pm

May

Sat. 3, Dress Rehearsal, 10-2pm (Attendance is Essential to sing in the concert) 

Sun. 4, Spring Concert 3pm arrive at 1pm 

Program Ad Sponsors, Echo Winter Concert 2024, Every Voice in Harmony, Dec. 8 at Holy Trinity

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Thank you!

MATTACHIONI
Italian Restaurant & Grocery Locations: WEST 1617 Dupont St. Toronto
416-519-1010 & EAST 1501 Gerrard St. E. Toronto 416-466-1111

earth concerns Cleaning Service 416- 535-9397


 Bloor Avenue Chiropractic Dr. Lynette Nissen 416-920-2468
1033 Bay St. Ste. 314, Toronto ON M5S 3A5 2306A
Bloor St. West, Toronto ON M6S 1P2 

SPRUNG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT 416-934-7160
Personal and Professional Investment Management
121 Richmond St. W. Ste. 305, Toronto

Harbord Bakery & Calandria 416-922-5767
115 Harbord St. Toronto

Echo Winter Concert,  Every Voice in Harmony

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with Special Guest Emma So Whitla

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!

Special Guest Emma So Whitla is a translator, performer, caregiver,
language lover, mender, and settler on the land known colonially as Toronto.
She works collaboratively, especially in community striving toward right relations
with the land and each other. Emma speaks and writes with high proficiency in Spanish and English.
She’s worked with Northern Harmony, Danza Espiral, Free Flow Dance Theatre, Máchari, Guetcha Guaritcha,
Confluence Concerts, and has taught and performed internationally. She sings with vocal quartet Harmonious
Accord, and loves to craft and contribute to the Gift Economy.
For more about her see emmaso.ca

Photo: Alkan Emin

Echo, Peace by Chocolate, Fall Fundraiser 2024

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Thank you for supporting Echo!

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 up in 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!

Becca Whitla Workshop. Sing! Sing! Sing!

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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  

Echo Spring Concert, O Sister! with special guest david sereda

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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 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)

Questions? Please contact Anne: info.echo@gmail.com
www.echochoir.ca

Behnaz McCallum

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Second Soprano

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.

Interview by Christine Boyanoski

Echo Fundraiser Silent Auction Donors

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Special Guests Turkwaz, Tranzac Club Feb. 22, 2024

Stephen Goring Registered Massage Therapist (416) 535-3512 26 Russett Avenue Toronto, ON M6H 3M3

Boomerang Pilates Boomerang Pilates and Wellness – Home

Confluence Concerts Confluence Concerts

Nightwood Theatre Nightwood Theatre – Canada’s flagship feminist theatre since 1979.

Coal Mine Theatre www.coalminetheatre.com

Young Centre for the Performing Arts  youngcentre.ca

National Ballet of Canada  national.ballet.ca

Mosaic Yoga  Studio  mosaic yoga toronto – Classes that keep you open, resilient, rejuvenated, and curious

Toronto Symphony Orchestra TSO.CA

david sereda! Join us for a day of singing!

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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)

Questions? Please contact Anne: info.echo@gmail.com
www.echochoir.ca