When Benjamin Vela, a senior at J. P. Taravella High School takes the stage for the Spring Pops Concert of the Florida Singing Sons, it will be his last season after a decade with the group.
“Music kind of started as a hobby for me as a kid. But then, when I was in third grade, I decided to join Florida Singing Sons after seeing how much my brother had enjoyed it. Now, I’m in my tenth year with them, and I’m the head chorister, which is sort of a leadership role in the choir. I’ll be graduating this year, so this is my last season. But it’s been a very positive and fun experience,” he says.
The upcoming Spring Pops Concert marks the end of the 49th season for the Florida Singing Sons but also serves as the first official celebration of the start of its 50th season in Fort Lauderdale. The youth choir was originally founded back in 1975 as a boys’ choir.
In 2023, it altered its decades-long tradition of only admitting boys in an effort to be more inclusive and began admitting girls into the program.
“We train our members vocally as they age and when their voices change, but we’ve also built into our program lessons about music theory, including how to read music and understand how songs are written and composed. We always say they come to us to learn music, but along with that, what we really do is also develop them into young adults who are ready to face the world,” says Daniel Bates, Florida Singing Sons artistic director, about the program.
The Florida Singing Sons is open to boys in grades second through twelfth grade and all genders in grades ninth through twelfth.
As for admission requirements, members do not need to have any kind of musical background or experience, but there is a monthly tuition, which ranges from $70 to $120 depending on the group level where participants are placed, plus a registration fee.
Florida Singing Sons also offers access to financial aid, according to Bates.
“Our philosophy is that we won’t turn anyone away if they can’t afford it. We’ve given up to 80% just in financial aid, and then we can cover the rest in a scholarship of some kind,” says Bates. Scholarship money comes from funding and grants from Funding Arts Broward and the Broward Cultural Division as well as other resources.
Once accepted and registered, members are placed in one of four choir levels, based on their age and vocal range.
Apprentice Choir is for boys in second through fifth grade, Concert Choir is for sixth through eighth graders with unchanged voices, Second Generation Singers is for high-school-aged boys with changed voices, and Chorale Soleil is a mixed choir for ninth through 12th-grade boys and girls.
The Florida Singing Sons perform at concerts including Miami’s New World Symphony and in Florida Grand Opera productions. There have also been tour opportunities to international destinations including Spain, Vienna, and Prague.
Annually, the group performs a Spring Pops Concert that rounds out each season. This year’s season finale is Saturday, May 10 at the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.
The annual concert will showcase each choir group’s abilities and what they’ve learned throughout this past season, according to Bates, who adds that this year’s performance will feature something different.
“Leading up to this concert, we’ve been really busy doing a lot of more serious performances like Britten’s ‘War Requiem’ that we (sung) with New World Symphony. So, I thought we should do something fun for this final concert. So, we’re treating it like a true Pops concert by doing . . . pop songs, but then we’re going to end the show with a medley from the musical ‘Les Misérables,’” says Bates.
Once their time with Florida Singing Sons has come to an end, alumni want to continue to stay involved. One way is the Florida Singing Sons Alumni Virtual Choir.
“We started the virtual choir during the pandemic for alumni who wanted to stay involved with the organization.”
This year, Bates says he chose this song “Brothers, Sing On!”
The way it works is that alumni find the track on the organization’s website, record themselves singing their part, and send it in.
“After that, we compile the submissions, and they’ll either end up on our website or our YouTube page for people to enjoy. It’s been a nice way to engage with our alumni and have them stay connected with our community,” says Bates.
Alumni can find the recording tracks and more information on floridasingingsons.org/alumni. The recordings need to be completed by 11 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22.
Vela says that becoming part of Florida Singing Sons helped him prepare for a future career in music but he also believes he has learned other skills.
“I think, personally, that singing and being a ‘singing son’ is for everyone, even if they don’t come from a musical background. You get to make a lot of new friends and build a strong connection with them, and music in general teaches you a lot of different life lessons, like having a good work ethic and focus.”
Vela will be attending Florida State University in the fall, where he will focus on instrumental music education.
“I plan to pursue more of the education side of things. I’ve always been more fascinated with being able to teach people and help them progress in their abilities. To me, that has always been my biggest inspiration to stay involved in music because I love seeing how a group learning music together can grow together as people, but also as musicians,” says Vela.
One alumnus of Florida Singing Sons joined the group when he was in third grade and remained a member for six years. Now, he is a professional opera singer and company manager for Florida Grand Opera, yet before joining the choir David Margulis reveals he had no previous interest in singing.
“This was something completely new for me, and back then, the entire audition process was different. They would visit . . . schools in Broward County and ask if any boys would like to audition. I had never sung anything in my life, but I gave it a shot. After that, I was a member up until eighth grade, and I left when I started high school.”
By then, he says, he had made up his mind that he wanted to have a career in music.
The tenor has performed across the country at large-scale venues such as the Palm Beach Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, and Austin Opera as well as at international venues in Switzerland and France.
To this day, he credits his success in his career to having been a part of Florida Singing Sons, he says.
“I never would have even thought of having a singing career had I not been in Florida Singing Sons as a kid, but more than that, it helped me develop my musicianship skills from a very early age, and that has really served me well going forward,” says Margulis.
WHAT: Florida Singing Sons “Spring Pops Concert”
WHERE: Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 SW 9th Ave., Fort Lauderdale
WHEN: 7 p.m., Saturday, May 10
TICKETS: $10, $15, $20, $50, $75
INFORMATION: (954) 563-2697 or www.floridasingingsons.org
