Welcome to Echo Women’s Choir
ECHO is a choir of women from all walks of life, all ages and professions based in Toronto, Canada.
The choir is committed to:
- Inclusive membership
- A rich repertoire
- Musical excellence
- Reflecting social justice values in our music and activities
- Passionate expression
We celebrate diversity in our members and our music. We are a community-based, non-affiliated organization. Echo welcomes any woman who loves to sing and can make the weekly rehearsal commitment.
Our directors are Becca Whitla and Alan Gasser.
What We Do
ECHO is a strong, varied, and vibrant choir that cultivates the beautiful and powerful sound of adult women's voices. We take great joy in singing together and in sharing a rich and diverse repertoire with our audiences at our concerts and at grassroots events around the city.
Each of our semi-annual concerts, in May and December, features a guest artist who has worked with the choir to bring us new skills, insights, and songs.
The music we sing reflects themes of joy, struggle, resistance, and love for one another and the Earth. It includes:
- Traditional folk songs in a variety of languages from around the world
- Music we have learned from our guest artists
- Work by contemporary Canadian composers
- Music from the jazz, blues, classical, modern folk, and rock traditions
One Voice, our 25th anniversary CD with our favourite songs from 2002 to 2018, is now available.
ECHO is dedicated to remaining an accessible community to all people in Toronto by allowing a sliding scale for membership fees and for concert tickets.
History
Echo began in 1991 when Sarah John and Becca Whitla formed this community-based women's choir. After Sarah's departure in 1993, Alan Gasser joined as co-director. From the original 16 voices, Echo has grown to a strength of 80 members.