NEWARK, Vt. (AP) – Evanne Weirich, founder of the Newark Balkan Chorus, has died.

Weirich, 50, died at home of cancer.

Weirich was a teacher at the Newark Street School and started the chorus in 1994. She combined harmonies and rhythms while teaching the teenage girls about Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and other Balkan countries.

The chorus eventually grew into a well-known a cappella group. In 1997 the chorus performed on Garrison Keillor’s nationally broadcast radio program, “A Prairie Home Companion.” The group also appeared in the movie “In The Bedroom” and sung at Carnegie Hall in 1999.

Elly Barksdale, an original member of the chorus, has stayed involved with the group and stepped in as director when Weirich became ill.

“She was a wonderful person with an amazing sense of humor,” Barksdale said Friday. “It will be an end of an era at Newark Street School.”