Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra
with Guest Artists
Nova Singers
of
Nova Southeastern University
Celebrate
Aaron Copland!
Sunday, March 2, 2003
Nova Southeastern University
Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Art Center
Program
Fanfare for the Common Man Aaron Copland
From the Ballet Billy the Kid Aaron Copland
Prairie Night (Card game at night)
Celebration Dance (after Billy's capture)
Waltz
Variations on a Shaker Melody (Simple Gifts) Aaron Copland
From Appalachian Spring
Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo Aaron Copland
• Buckaroo Holiday
• Corral Nocturne
• Saturday Night Waltz
IV. Hoe- Down
Intermission
The Star Spangled Banner Words by Francis Scott Key
Old American Songs Aaron Copland
Ching-a-Ring Chaw Arr. for chorus by Irving Fine
Long Time Ago
The Boatman's Dance
Sure on This Shining Night Samuel Barber
A Red, Red, Rose James Mulholland
Elijah Rock Arr. By Moses Hogan
Dedicated to the composer, who died on Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Old American Songs Aaron Copland
I Bought Me a Cat Arranged by Irving Fine
Zion's Walls Arranged by Glenn Koponen
Nova Singers, Peggy Barber, Director
Chuck Stanley , Assistant Director
Dana Davis, Accompanist
Special thanks go to:
Bluejay Sound
Buenos Aires Bakery
The Nova Singers
Singing in South Florida since 1976
We were singers in search of a chorus. It was the summer of 1976, and the nation was celebrating its Bicentennial. For a dozen or so of us, though, there was not much to celebrate. We had received letters form the college that sponsored our community chorus, informing us that the chorus was being discontinued. We were faced with two choices: join a long established chorus, or strike out on our own. When we gathered in the living room of our director, Peggy Barber, that summer night, we had no idea what was involved in starting up and running a chorus. All we knew was that we wanted to try. We found a friend in Nova University , which did not have a music program but agreed to sponsor us. We borrowed music. We hastily elected a board. (“Want to be president? You're elected!) And within a few months, we put on our first concert as the Nova University Community Singers.
Nova Singers has enjoyed an enviable reputation for being an important artistic resource in Southeaster Florida. The choir numbers about 130 singers. We have recorded three compact discs, performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and in Washington D.C. at our National Cathedral. A European Concert tour included both the Mozart and Haydn Festivals in Vienna and Salzburg , Austria and several intimate concert venues in churches in a myriad of rural communities throughout Germany and Austria .
Our founder and mentor, Peggy Joyce Barber, has been the choir's catalyst since day one. Besides being a spirited teacher, she has molded us into a true choir family where we can support the joys and share the sorrows of one another. Peggy's status as a legend in choral music now extends well beyond Southeast Florida . She is well-known as an adjudicator at choral events, as a guest conductor/director and resource for fellow chorus leaders around the country. Peggy's enthusiasm generates cooperation and leadership from the entire choir. Many of us serve countless hours in volunteer capacities to ensure we are able to put our best foot forward for every single performance. The end result is what music writers have referred to as “the Nova Singers sound.”
Uncanny communication between Peggy and Nova Singers' accompanist Dana Davis, Peggy's former student, has developed into a harmonious partnership. The consummate professional, Dana provides so much more than keyboard skills . . . endless energy, coaching our soloists, creative ideas – all while serving as music director for a thriving Episcopal church and school in Fort Lauderdale. Assistant Director Chuck Stanley, Jr. is a long-time member, former chorus president and ongoing leader within the Nova Singers ranks. In addition to a full-time career in technical support services, Chuck serves First United Methodist Church of Pompano Beach as organist and choir director. His enthusiasm and dedication enhance the musical qualities of Nova Singers.
We are grateful to Nova Southeastern University (NSU) for the support it has provided over the years, enabling us to concentrate more on our artistic energies and to a lesser extent on fund-raising and financial responsibilities. NSU continues to support our cause and enables us to represent the university within the performing arts community of Southeastern Florida . Nova Singers rehearse weekly between Labor Day and Memorial Day with a short break during the holidays. Membership is by audition and nearly a forth of the choir has been with our organization for 15 years or more (we have almost a dozen charter members). Many of us are professional church or school musicians who are energized by the organization so we can carry that enthusiasm back to our church, temple, school choirs and music students. In many ways Peggy has taught each of us to be “teachers”, enabling us to encourage family and friends to explore the choral and performing arts. Another interesting statistic: In 27 years we've celebrated more than 25 weddings within our ranks underscoring the personalities of the choir and reaching beyond our musical capabilities. As a result, we have “second generation” singers beginning to join our group.
Nova Singers are Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Greek Orthodox, Episcopal, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Unitarian and others. We experiment with all kinds of sacred and secular choral music. We sing in Hebrew, Latin, French, Greek, German, Russian – and on occasion, African! That “long-established” chorus we could have joined in 1976 is long gone. Nova has a longer name ( Nova Southeastern University ) and we have a shorter one (NSU's Nova Singers), but the relationship has not only continued, but thrived.
Peggy Joyce Barber, Founder and Music Director of the Nova Singers, is a c onductor, clinician, and consultant. She has been a key influence on the south Florida music scene since her 1956 arrival in Fort Lauderdale to direct Stranahan High School 's music program. It was there that her artistry first became known as, during almost two decades under her tutelage, the Stranahan chorus consistently ranked as one of Florida's finest high-school choirs. Some 20 years later Peggy founded the Nova Singers of Nova Southeastern University – and the legend continued. As the small group of former students and several interested community members expanded into what is now a chorus of 130 men and women who love to sing, so did Nova Singers' reputation for choral excellence.
Peggy's resume includes many other significant achievements: Director of music for First Presbyterian “The Pink Church” in Pompano Beach, .Former state president and life member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Florida Vocal Association, and the Florida Music Educators Association, Life member of the Music Educators National Conference, Guest conductor for the Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee All-State Festival Choruses, Adjudicator at numerous state and district festivals for the Florida Vocal Association for more than 25 years.
The list of honors accorded this remarkable woman is equally impressive: Outstanding Secondary Educator; White House Conference on Youth participant: Women in Communication's Woman of the Year in fine arts for Broward County; the Wayne Hugoboom Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to Choral music in Florida; induction into the “Hall of Fame” for the Florida Music Educators Association and recipient of the Joseph Leavitt Award for “Dedication to the Arts”.
About Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was the first truly American composer. His works represent the vast landscape of America , from cowboy (the ballets Rodeo and Billy the Kid ) and mountain music ( Appalachian Spring ) to the politically inspiring Lincoln Portrait , which Copland based on the writings of Abraham Lincoln. Copland studied composition with French organist, Nadia Boulanger , who became the teacher to many American composers and organists. He wrote one of the most widely used music appreciation texts, What to Listen for in Music , and later taught at the Berkshire Music Center at Tangelwood, at which many American music students trained.
Leonard Bernstein was a great admirer of Aaron Copland. It was Bernstein's greatest thrill as a young student at Harvard to meet, purely by chance, Copland on his birthday. Bernstein then accepted an invitation later that day to a birthday party at Copland's loft (where he composed most of his music). This same loft later became New York 's Lincoln Center . Copland became like a father to Bernstein, as well as his only composition teacher. When a new Copland work was completed, Bernstein and Copland would sit down and play through, four-hand, on the piano.
The ballet Billy the Kid portrays different episodes in the life of the famous gunfighter. At twelve, Billy sees his mother gunned down after a drunken brawl becomes ugly. Billy grabs a knife and stabs her killers. Later, Billy is seen in a game of cards with other outlaws under the stars on the open prairie. There is a drunken celebration after Billy's capture, from which he soon escapes. The Pas de deux shows Billy resting in the desert with his girl. Finally, the posse catches him – it is the end.
Appalachian Spring was composed as a ballet in 1934-44 and performed by Miss Martha Graham and her dance company at the Library of Congress in Washington , D.C. Variations on a Shaker Melody is based on “Simple Gifts,” a favorite Shaker song from the 1800's.
The ballet Rodeo was originally sub-titled, The Courting at Burnt Ranch . The idea of the ballet came from Agnes de Mille . She described it in this way: “Throughout the American Southwest, the Saturday afternoon rodeo is a tradition. The hands get together to show off their skill in roping, riding, branding and throwing. The afternoon's exhibition is usually followed by a Saturday night dance at the ranch House.” One hears a number of American folk songs interwoven into the music. For example, “If he'd be a buckaroo by his trade” and “Sis Joe” are heard in the first Episode, Buckaroo Holiday . The dance tune “Bonyparte” is a main theme for Hoe-Down .
Copland's Old American Songs were written in two sets of five songs for solo voice. Today's performance with choral arrangements includes the original orchestrations. Ching-a-Ring Chaw is a minstrel song from the mid 1800's. Long Time Ago is an anonymous ballad. The Boatmen's Dance , also a minstrel song, was originally published as “a banjo melody.” I Bought Me a Cat is a fun children's nonsense song that was sung to the composer by a friend. Finally, Zion's Walls is a revivalist song credited to the compiler of the Social Harp .
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