By Charles Baran
In 1976, retiring Fort Lauderdale high school music teacher Peggy Joyce Barber had a dream—to start an organization that would keep choral music alive in Broward County for years to come. Thanks to a sponsorship with NOVA Southeastern University, Peggy’s dream came true and for forty-eight glorious years the NOVA Singers have been delighting Broward and Palm Beach County music lovers with three fully produced concert series per year. In 2010, Ms. Barber passed her conductor’s baton to Chuck Stanley, who continues to guide the group forward, keeping over 100 singers together through Florida premiers of major works, European tours and a pandemic. Recently, I spoke to Chuck about this musical treasure of the South Florida arts and entertainment scene.
Charles Baran: Hello Chuck! I love the NOVA singers. When did you first become involved?
Chuck Stanley: Hi Charles. I was there at the beginning. I joined the group in 1976, just out of college. It was shortly after the group was formed. So, you could say I’m an original member.
Charles Baran: Are you the only original member still in the group?
Chuck Stanley: No. There are two of us. But many of members have been with us for 25 to 30 years. It’s more than a choir. It’s become a family.
Charles Baran: Tell us about your concerts. What kind of music do you offer?
Chuck Stanley: We do three concert series per year. Each concert has three performances. The December concert is half classical holiday music and half contemporary holiday. Then in March we do a program of a major classical piece, like Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare which we did in 2023. The May program we keep a bit lighter with spirituals, early Americana and patriotic songs.
Charles Baran: What did you select for the March program this year?
Chuck Stanley: This year we are doing Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo, a magnificent piece that we first did in 2017. The choir loves singing it. It’s based on Psalm 100, “Oh, be joyful in the lord, all ye lands,” and has seven movements, each sung in a different language: English, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Liturgical Latin, Mandarin Chinese, and Zulu. Tickets are available on the NOVA Singers website www.nova.edu/novasingers.
Charles Baran: How many singers are currently in the group?
Chuck Stanley: We currently have 105 and they range in age from a recently joined high school student to several people in their nineties. We’ve had up to 140 singers but, unfortunately, due to the pandemic several members did not return.
Charles Baran: Was it hard keeping the group together during the pandemic?
Chuck Stanley: I made sure we had our weekly Tuesday evening rehearsal like we have had for forty-eight years, but on ZOOM instead. It was quite interesting. I played music and everyone could hear it at home. But I had to keep everyone on mute. So, I couldn’t hear anyone. All I would see was a lot of mouths moving. Afterwards, I’d tell everyone that they sounded great, or so I imagined. But at least it was a way to keep everyone together.
Charles Baran: Do you actively seek new members?
Chuck Stanley: Yes, we hold auditions three times a year. In August we do a “summer sing” where we sing through the December music. A person wishing to join can come and sing with us and afterwards audition. It’s a great way for a person to experience the conductor which I feel is very important. Then we hold auditions the first Tuesday in January and the week after the last concert in May. Anyone wishing to become a member and audition can email me at novasingers@nova.edu.
Charles Baran: Does the group perform outside of South Florida?
Chuck Stanley: Yes. We’ve performed at Carnegie Hall three times and also at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. And we’ve gone on three major European tours since the group was founded in 1976. In 1988 we went to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2006 we sang at the Vatican and performed in and around Rome. Then in 2016 we travel to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. We were supposed to go to Baltics in 2020 but the pandemic took care of that. We are planning a tour for our upcoming 50th Anniversary Season and we might just do the Baltics.
Charles Baran: How would you describe your audience?
Chuck Stanley: Fifty percent of our audience are die-hard fans. The other fifty percent are attending our concerts for the first time which proves that our outreach and marketing is working. We are always excited to see new faces in the audience.
Charles Baran: What is something you’d like to share about the NOVA Singers?
Chuck Stanley: Making music with other people is magical. When I see the faces of the singers during performance, hearing the amalgam of sound, well, the power of music is transformative. We are more than a choir; we are a group of people that care deeply about each other and it shows every minute we are together.
