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Our Mission
The three flowers in the Blazing Star symbol represent the Society's three purposes:
- To promote the study and performance of the vast repertoire of both sacred and secular choral music
- To promote this choral repertoire as a cultural experience for participant and audience
- To encourage music education through choral workshops for the community and stipends for advanced study by participants
Our Symbol
The Blazing Star (liatrus spicata), a prairie flower not native to western Pennsylvania but left here by a glacier, now thrives at Jennings Nature Reserve in northern Butler County. This spiky, purple flower is unique in that it blooms from the top down. It seemed an appropriate name to represent Butler County and the growth of the Society from the founders to the hundreds of singers who have donated their talents to the group.
The blazing star floral background on the Blazing Star Choral Society website were designed and painted by decorative arts painter Sheila C. Berns, who moved to Butler in 1985. She studied decorative painting and drawing at Butler County Community College and is a member of Town & Country Decorative Painters. Sheila enjoys doing customized work on a variety of surfaces. She is also the mother of Blazing Star singer and historian Wendy Berns.
Our Beginnings
The Blazing Star Choral Society began in 1991 after a community choir completed a concert tour of Italy. Since there had been no organized non-profit choral group within the county, and after the success of that tour, it seemed logical to establish one. The society was founded by Donald J. Rasely and Margaret D. Stock in August 1991. At that time, Rasely was well-known as a liturgical music director, college instructor, and vocalist. Stock, also a college instructor, team-taught with Rasely and was a member of the community choir. They had worked on several projects including a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council for the Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival held in Butler (founded by Rasely and selected for the Pennsylvania Arts Calendar). The June 1992 premiere performance of the 100-voice chorus featured John Rutter's Magnificat to a sell-out audience at Butler County Community College. And the rest, as they say, is history.