EchoPoint Chorale holds debut concerts at Butler, Cranberry
CRANBERRY TWP — Butler County was introduced to a new musical group this past weekend as the EchoPoint Chorale, a nonprofit group of volunteer vocalists from across the region, held its premiere concert program, “From Earth to Sky,” on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31.
The choral group, which consists of 36 vocalists, made its public premiere with a pair of free concerts, held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler on Saturday and Hope Lutheran Church in Cranberry Township on Sunday.
“We're hoping that our music moves people and inspires people,” said chorus director Heather Helsel. “We hope that can carry out into the community.”
Helsel said most of the group first came together when they provided vocals for the Butler County Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Traditions concerts, which they have done for the past three years.
“We decided we wanted more,” Helsel said. “We started to create our own group. To have it come to fruition is like a dream come true.”
Helsel describes the inaugural concerts as a combination of pieces celebrating the Earth, sky and stars.
“The first five pieces on the program are about Earth,” Helsel said. “We’ve got ‘Wide Open Spaces’ and ‘The Pasture,’ which is very vivid imagery about Earth experiences. The second half of the program is the sky songs ... songs that are meant to uplift and carry people forward, thinking about nature.”
In total, EchoPoint performed five Earth pieces and five sky pieces during the one-hour show Sunday, which opened with the classic folk song “Shenandoah” and closed with “The Awakening” by Joseph M. Martin.
The Earth and sky sections were separated by an intermission performance by a string quartet from the Butler County Symphony Orchestra, performing “String Quartet No. 2 in D Major” by Alexander Borodin.
Helsel said bigger plans are in the works for EchoPoint, including a repeat of the “From Earth to Sky” program at First English Lutheran Church in Butler 2 p.m on July 11, as well as an appearance at Butler’s Steeples & Stacks event in July.
The group is also planning a series of collaborations with the symphony orchestra, including another performance at the Holiday Traditions concert Dec. 5; involvement with The Planets concert, featuring “The Planets” by Gustav Holtz and other selections, Nov. 7; and a “Star Wars” at 50 concert on May 1, 2027.
In addition, Helsel is already looking ahead to fostering the next generation of EchoPoint vocalists.
“I'd love to see a youth chorus as a part of this, called ‘EchoPoint Youth Chorale,” Helsel said. “My three-year plan is to add a youth component to this, for sixth-grade through 10th grade.”
