Glory Reitz
Long ago, Joy Banks gave up trying to start rehearsals on time for 1000 Voices of Florida. As the group’s founder, president and concert producer, she usually allows an extra 10 minutes at the beginning of practice for singers to do one of their favorite things: fellowship.
“All right, we’re gonna start,” Banks finally says. “So keep it to a low roar.”
Banks and her daughter, Ra’Chelle, begin playing music, and while choir members’ feet tap and they sway with the songs, they still poke, tease and laugh.
It’s like the moment in church when visiting time is meant to be over, but people cannot seem to stop greeting and hugging each other. Only this group is gathered on a Monday night in the little building at Oakview Park that smells faintly of apples.
Ten years ago, a group of educators and singers formed 1000 Voices of Florida with a goal of spreading unity across church denomination lines. Now that vision has expanded to cover not just the church, but the entire community.
In early 2014, Banks and a musician friend were talking about how divided the faith community was across denominational lines. They remembered a community choir concert from the late 1980s, called 1000 Voices, and thought it would be a good thing to bring back—only this time, they wanted to ensure that the choir incorporated a mix of both races and denominations.
Banks had also helped put together the Voices of the New Millenium choir in the early 2000s, which had brought together a diverse group of people, so she had a “playbook” of what needed to be done.
After seven months of planning, the first concert was at Westside Baptist Church in early 2015, complete with an orchestra, dancers, and about 120 singers. The building was packed with about 1,400 attendees.
“I think a lot of it was just curiosity,” Banks said. “Because nothing had been done on that level before… it really kind of went beyond what we had anticipated. But it was a good problem.”
The goal from there was to hold a benefit concert for various charitable organizations every two years. Funds raised at the concerts have gone to the Sickle Cell Foundation, Food4Kids Backpack Program, Miriam’s Basket, the American Cancer Society and many other organizations over the years.
As 1000 Voices engaged with more organizations, the group began looking for more ways to get involved in the community in the downtime between concerts. In 2017, they began singing at nursing homes, Ronald McDonald House and other places, calling the outreach “Visiting Voices.”
Around the same time, choir members wanting to delve more into their favorite kinds of music led to the formation of a classical ensemble and a praise ensemble. 1000 Voices also formed a male ensemble, a youth group called “Reformation,” and other groups as demand arose.
“We’ve gotten to where we don’t even focus on a benefit concert anymore,” Banks said. “We just pray and we talk—where should we go to do something for the community.”
In the early days, Banks said the group would ask local churches for the use of their space for rehearsals. Though the churches were hospitable, she was sometimes shocked by what she experienced. Once, members at a church in Ocala thought Black choir members would not be able to read music or keep up. She was equally taken aback when people at an African American church would act unpleasantly surprised to see white singers at the rehearsals.
Banks said she mostly kept those occurrences quiet from the group because she did not want to discourage them. But she was also angry about racial divisions in the faith community, so she eventually told the 1000 Voices community about it and began focusing more on partnering with pastors who embraced the vision of unity.
That proved to be a turning point in the 1000 Voices history. The group shifted toward a focus of the community at large, not just the church, Banks said.
“It was a good thing that we started talking about it and actively speaking out to people and saying, look, unity can’t be when it’s convenient,” Banks said. “You have to be unified, period. And it doesn’t mean you embrace everything about everybody. But as a whole, we’re all in the same boat.”
Banks said praying for partnerships with groups that shared a goal of unity has led to many more open doors than she imagined, with organizations she did not expect. The group has performed for events like Alachua’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Gainesville’s Juneteenth event, the Community Foundation’s 25th anniversary gala, and many other community gatherings.
In 2022, 1000 Voices performed at the Cultivate Church Concert in Nashville, Tenn., after which a feeling of negativity developed in the group. Banks said she “could feel God turning things inside out.” The group lost some officers, and people were angry with each other, so they prayed and fasted to find out what God was trying to do with them.
Since then, Banks said people and organizations have come out of the blue offering money and working to find a van to transport members to events. She said the city of Gainesville has come out in support of the group unexpectedly, letting them use the Oakview Center for practice.
“We’re trying to find a building,” Banks said. “I’m crazy enough to believe we’re gonna end up finding a building because God’s gonna bless us with one.”
Banks said about 725 people have signed on with 1000 Voices since 2014, but not all are singers. Some people, nearby or as far away as Russia, have joined the group’s prayer ministry. Others volunteer and help set up events like the upcoming Duke Ellington concert on April 28.
“The voices aren’t just the singers, and that’s something people forget,” Ra’Chelle Banks said. “Because it’s all part of this metaphorical choir, lifting one united thing to the Lord. And so the voices are whatever your voice is, whatever you do and express.”
The group is open for anyone to join, and Joy Banks said if 1000 Voices does not already have a place for someone’s skill set, there is always room to create new ways to serve.
The organization has grown enough in the last 10 years that it has needed to add board members, ministry teams and media teams. Some manage the online presence, on YouTube, Facebook and digital concerts.
The digital concerts arose when Visiting Voices had to stop going to nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joy Banks said the group refused to let the shutdown stop their ministry, so they took it online.
Four years later, 1000 Voices still accepts singing videos from people across the world. The organization creates collections of the videos, puts them on DVDs and sends them to nursing homes across the country. If the person who submitted a song lives in the United States, Ra’Chelle Banks said she asks if they have a friend or relative in a nursing home who could receive a copy.
Angie Terrell was one of the organizers of the original 1000 Voices concert in the 1980s and has been part of the new 1000 Voices since its inception. Terrell is also a member of the board and said she plans to stay with the group as long as she can.
“Their vision, their community outreach, all of the things they do positively in the community, it’s just such a positive experience,” Terrell said. “It’s fun, but spiritual.”
Another board member, Alan Cook, said being part of the choir is refreshing for him.
“I am humbled to be a part of a group of wonderful people from such diverse backgrounds who come together unified under the banner of the loving God,” Cook said. “What a great atmosphere to experience—whether it’s practice or performance, we’re in it together.”
Several people said 1000 Voices is like an extended family, and that each time members get together it feels like a family reunion. The community also offers a place for members to sing for the joy of it, without pressure to be a leader or be better than others.
Banks said many of the singers are teachers or choir leaders, each worthy of a spotlight. Yet when they come to 1000 Voices, she said they ask not to be given solos and they position themselves in unassuming places amidst the others.
Like many others, Denise Carroll heard about the choir through word of mouth. Now she has been singing with 1000 Voices for about six years, enjoying the fellowship, learning new songs and working to improve.
“I feel a sense of unity,” Carroll said. “The unity of being able to rejoice.”