UNC Charlotte’s Voices of Eden Gospel Choir shares gift of music

The student group Voices of Eden Gospel Choir recently completed its spring semester tour with concerts in Winston-Salem and Greenville, N.C., and Richmond, Norfolk and Suffolk, Va. The group will be featured in concert at Mission Gathering Charlotte at 10 a.m., Sunday, April 10.

In Richmond, the choir sang at a nursing home and visited with residents; the performance was part of its established tradition to uplift the campus and community through sharing its gift of music.

““I enjoy going out and ministering to others, as not only they are blessed by our singing, but we are blessed as well,” said freshman Sydnie Rogers.

Zacch Estrada-Petersen, who helped found the choir when he was a senior in spring 2005, said, “We are a very active organization and well-known and respected throughout the Charlotte community, and thus, highly sought after. Our performance schedule can be fairly intense. We also sing a wide variety of gospel music, from classics to contemporary. We pride ourselves and blend harmony and precise execution of the parts and notes. And our fundamental goal is not just to sing, but to inspire and uplift, so that is always our focus.”

Since its inception, the choir hosts an annual benefit concert for a local nonprofit organization, most recently the Derrick Griffith Scholarship Award at UNC Charlotte. Past beneficiaries have included Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlotte, Boys & Girls Clubs of Charlotte and Bethlehem Center of Charlotte.

“We also try to incorporate community service work into each semester. In the past we’ve volunteered at Second Harvest Food Bank as well as a home build with Habitat for Humanity,” said Estrada-Petersen.

Rogers, the UNC Charlotte freshman, said she’s made many friends since joining the choir, and they “seem more like family. I tell everyone the same thing. The greatest decision I ever made was attending UNC Charlotte. The second best decision I made was joining Voices of Eden. I absolutely love my VOE family. I have developed a really strong bond with all of the members in the choir and I really do consider them my family.”

Voices of Eden tours are funded entirely by contributions from the student members, donations from the public, fundraisers and honorariums from events.

For more information on Voices of Eden, visit www.facebook.com/voicesofeden.

The choir’s Instagram, @VoicesofEden, features short clips of choir rehearsals, photos of outings and performances. The Voices of Eden YouTube Channel includes more than 210 videos of performances throughout the years and has garnered 830,000-plus collective views.