Looking Back on the Dec. 16, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Sing in Old Town

 Looking Back on the Dec. 16, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Sing in Old Town

AACC members braved the cold temps for the annual holiday sing in Old Town Alexandria this week. Singers gathered at Market Square inside City Hall to warm up at 7 pm before departing to stroll along King Street toward the Potomac. 

This event has a long tradition for the chapter and includes stopping to go inside restaurants along the popular Street.  Mark Klostermeyer had visited the establishments prior to the meeting to confirm permission to come inside and sing for the patrons in about ten restaurants to include Virtue Feed & Grain, Union Street, and Fish Market.

At the Torpedo Factory, the two ensembles did a mini show on the riser-like stairs there.  Metro Voices sang their “Happy Holidays Medley” and the Harmonizers sang “Here Comes Santa Claus.” They combined to sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as they departed each business.

Everyone dressed for the cold and the chapter brought out the supply of Santa hats for folks to wear.

Maggie McAlexander led warm up exercises for the AACC chorus; then they did a run-through of the songs for the evening. Jason Lee directed the Harmonizers, Maggie directed Metro Voices and Samantha Tramack directed the AACC chorus for the evening.

Assistant director of Capital Force ensemble, Julian LaFlore, and several of the members, joined the other AACC singers for the carols in Old Town. 

Looking ahead: There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and will be held at AlexRenew. The chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest will be postponed until Jan. 13 at AlexRenew. 

President Craig Kujawa recently sent a message on Slack about housing at the International convention in St. Louis this summer.  All members need to carefully study his recent message on getting room reservations (it is wise to try to get into the headquarters hotel as it is where the chapter ensembles will rehears, and is close to the contest venue).   

Craig also recently released a letter to all members inviting them to consider a suggested annual donation of $150 (or an amount more or less as their choice) in lieu of dues. The chapter no longer assesses members annual chapter dues; instead the chapter now relies on voluntary contributions from those who are able to help sustain our shared mission. 

Nearly all of the singers made the walk to Chadwick’s for the last stop to sing and to enjoy the chance to get warm and relax in an afterglow atmosphere.

Until next time – editorjack! And Season’s Greetings to all.   

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back on the Dec. 12 and 13, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Holiday Show

 Looking Back on the Dec. 12 and 13, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Holiday Show

The show was terrific! Both nights were equally good. The Metro Voices and the Harmonizers ensembles each sang a set of songs alone and then there were songs that all AACC singers did to open and close the shows. They all wore classic black outfits with red and green accents. 

There was awesome singing, full houses, fun audience participation, and a cooperative audience to find parking around the Fairlington Presbyterian Church.  The Friday night show started at 8 pm which allowed for singers and audience to get there after work – traffic was a bear on Friday night, but it did not delay the start time. The Saturday night show started at 8 pm and included a one-song appearance by the new Capital Force ensemble that has joined AACC.  Tessa Walker is director with Julian LaFlore as assistant.  There were 15 youth from grades 7^th-12^th to sing “I Will Go Sailing No More.”

The show started with the entry of the singers walking in the side aisles of the church, as artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed the audience to “Follow the Season.” (He decked out in his plaid vest and red bow tie.) The show opener by the AACC chorus was “Welcome Christmas” directed by Joe.

Then Joe introduced the thirty Metro Voices to start their set with French carol, “Sing We Noel” directed by Samantha Tramack. Assistant director, Maggie McAlexander, stepped out to direct their second song, “Winter Wonderland.” Jean Hillinck set the stage for the third song; “Christmas Time” directed by Samantha. Sophie Clarke did the solo for this song. 

To set the stage for their song in Hebrew, Leah Bernstein and Sheryl Berlin  explained the theme of the song, “Oseh Shalon,” and Maggie was soloist. Metro Voices finished their set with “Auld Lang Syne.”

Metro Voices exited via the center aisle and guest quartet, BETTER TOGETHER, took the stage to continue the family music theme of the show as introduced by Becca Williams.  The quartet includes Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo and Heather and Andrew Havens.  Their great singing included several tradition holiday songs to include a warm and lovely “Away in the Manger.”

At this point, the AACC singers arrived back into the sanctuary for this year’s audience sing-along time.  Joe invited guests to enjoy and follow the cues from chorus members who brought signs for the words for “Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Assistant director of the Harmonizers, Jason Lee, directed the AACC chorus who kicked off the song, then each of the mini sections of the audience sang their day (with word changes to fun things as the song progressed such as ‘seven deadly sins’). The ‘five golden rings’ line was sung from the balcony by Joe, Samantha, Tony andMaggie who, each time, took more time with key changes and swipes and gestures to try to steal the show!  The audience loved it all. 

Then AACC chorus sang “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” with all singers singing from all sides of the sanctuary, directed by Joe standing in the balcony. Zak Sandler and Heidi Brown had solo spots in this song. 

Then Metro Voices left the room and the 50 Harmonizers took the stage (there were no risers, so singers formed in the front space of the sanctuary). Samantha introduced the Harmonizer set and explained the NORAD call-system for kids to call and check on Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve as the chorus started their set with “Here Comes Santa.”  Joedirected the fun song as well as the Harmonizer’s traditional presentation of  “Toyland.” 

Tony directed a fun arrangement of “White Christmas” as made famous by the Drifters. To add to the fun, members each pulled out a pretend microphone to sing this one – the variety of the mics was fun too: spoons, holly branches, water bottles, umbrellas, pieces of wood, wrenches – to name a few examples.

Michael Berkson helped change the mood for the serious Hebrew song  “El Yivneh Hagalil.”

Jason directed “Little St. Nick” next.

David Hillinck set the stage for “O Come Emmanuel” which was partially in Latin. Joe directed this major song for the show.

Tony led the chorus for its final song, a fun “New Year Medley.”

The AACC chorus regrouped on the stage for the finale, “Gloria,” with BETTER TOGETHER singing the solo spot leading into the conclusion of the magnificent arrangement.  The audience responded with their eager standing ovation. 

Terry Reynold, thanked the audience for their support and promised the chapter’s New Year’s resolution will be to find a venue for next year with plenty of parking! The chorus and the audience sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

Congratulations to Catherine LaValley for her leadership as producer and coordinator for the holiday show. Thanks to the many family members and friends who volunteered with ticket sales, ushering, parking attendant, and stage set up.  Mike Kelly and Cy Shuster were in charge of the sound set up. The music team had the ensembles well prepared for this year’s holiday concert!

Great to see so many former members in the audience and some current members who were unable to sing this time, as well as several of our community board members. The ushers passed out business cards with the chapter’s QR code for a show program or to make donations to the chapter.

The afterglow on Saturday night was great fun with a full Harmo House.  Joe ordered 17 pizzas and everyone knows the chapter can eat lots of pizza!!  Other members brought sweets and snacks including Ashley Merryman’s eggnog cake!

Tuesday, Dec. 16, the chapter continues its tradition of singing holiday music in Old Town Alexandria. Singers will assemble at 7 pm at Market Square.

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back on the Dec. 9, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Dec. 9, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

AACC held the pre-show rehearsal and chapter meeting at Fairlington Presbyterian Church which will be the venue for the shows. It was a busy night but admin chief, Terry Reynolds, kept everyone informed as to next steps and things flowed well. Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, and directors Tony Colosimo, Jason Lee, Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander were well prepared and helped the ensembles keep their performances at a high level. The singing was awesome!!!!

Maggie led warm up exercises for the AACC chorus before Jason worked with them on more vocal exercises. Next, each ensemble took a few minutes to work out chorus line ups to determine where the singers would stand in the sanctuary for their songs.  

Then the AACC singers ran the entire show with only a stop for a business meeting mid evening.  The show run-through included emcees and soloists (they were so terrific – GREAT JOB), as well as how the ensembles would move to the ‘stage’ between sets. It all worked smoothly – thanks to chorus leadership who had a plan in advance.

A couple sneak previews here – the wranglers to help sections of the audience sing each of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” went well – everyone got a kick out of the ‘five golden rings’ signers – Joe, Tony, Samantha and Maggie – as they milked the chords and stole the show!  The Harmonizers pretend microphones for “White Christmas” was a laugh too – spoons, water bottles, drum stick, and a piece of picture frame wood were just some that YeEd noticed!

The chapter’s holiday shows are scheduled for Friday December 12 at 8 pm, and December 13 at 7:30 pm, both at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street. Call time for both shows is 5:30 pm for all AACC singers. Uniform for both ensembles for the holiday show will be all black dressy with red and/or green accents. For the Harmonizers, that also means no white shirts. If there is a question, contact Becca Williams. 

Catherine LaValley, show producer, reinforced lots of details and logistics that members will need to know regarding parking options for members with thoughts about how members could get their family to the show. Again, she emphasized the need for members to each sell five more tickets to the shows. Tickets for the shows, “Follow the Season,” are available via Eventbrite. We are not sold out yet! There will be tickets sold at the door.

Recent messages on the Slack channel from Randall Eliason confirmed the location of a lot of on-street parking spaces.  

Catherine also asked for members or their friends who are willing to volunteer outside at the show to direct the parking situation.  She emphasized that this year’s parking and venue challenges are well documented with intentions to remedy next time.  

Looking ahead:  

AACC will have their traditional holiday carol sing in Old Town on Tues. Dec. 16, gathering at Market Square at 7 pm.  Wear colorful scarves and gloves if it is cold. This is a fun evening and singers will pop into restaurants along the way to entertain folks inside. (Usually someone brings a supply of Santa hats for singers to use for the event.)

There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and will be held at AlexRenew. Terry announced a change in plans and that the chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest will be postponed until Jan. 13 at AlexRenew. 

President Craig Kujawa re-emphasized his recent message on Slack about housing at the International convention in St. Louis this summer.  All members need to carefully study his recent message via Slack on getting room reservations.  The key is to do it on Dec. 15 using the link from Craig. That will get our chapter members into early bird housing (which is a perk for those choruses competing in the contest).

On another subject, Craig asked members to be watching for a new chapter form to use in suggesting fellow members for any of the official chapter awards to recognize 2025 participation. A list of the awards with a description and a list of former recipients will be sent out with the form. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed returning guests this week: Billy Ermlick, Josh Frakes and Logan Glauser. Also Patrick Horne’s child Riley was in the audience. 

Word went out this week that the local WETA station used the Harmonizer recording of “O Come O Come Emanuel” during holiday programing on Monday, Dec. 8. 

Theis week’s rehearsal wrapped up about 10 pm. A good crowd of members enjoyed the afterglow pizza and snacks at the Harmo House.

On Thursday of this week, a study task force will also meet at the Harmo House at 7 pm to discuss the official launch of the Vintage Blend mixed gender daytime ensemble as part of AACC.  Terry Reynolds will be the director. The task force includes Terry, Joe, Jack Pitzer, Alan Wile, Bob Bates, Mary Cooper, David Welter, Don Harrington, and Chuck Miller.

In other news reported by E. J. Harold,  Sunday, December 7, saw the Harmonizers singing Christmas carols for the Blue Star Family Christmas gathering and Santa Meet and Greet held at the BAE Headquarters in Falls Church, VA. The chorus had over 20 voices singing for a large gathering of families – about 250 people.

 Blue Star Families is a charity established in 2009 to empower military families to thrive as they serve. The organizers work to connect military families to their neighbors creating vibrant communities of mutual support. A blue star family is the family of a currently serving military member, including active duty, National Guard, Reserve forces, and those transitioning out of service.

The Harmonizers, a balanced group of voices outfitted in their Holiday Show black outfits, with red and green accents, performed in the lobby entrance of the building and sang a rotating play list of their Christmas repertoire. The run time was about an hour and a quarter and, once the families had processed in through the lobby, the singers joined them on the 10^th floor for three final songs before departure. Audience appreciation was keenly felt and the interactions with several children brought smiles all around. The performance was directed by Tony Colosimo. Terry Reynolds andFrank Fedarko handled all logistics for the event, which was first signaled to us by Dana Richardson, Military Outreach co-coordinator.

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back on the Dec. 2, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Dec. 2, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

AACC held their post-Thanksgiving chapter meeting at AlexRenew and there was a large attendance for the rehearsal getting so close to the holiday show.  Again, artistic director, Joe Cerutti, mentioned several times how pleased he was that so many members were able to attend this week. 

Development chairman, Ken Rub, reports that the chapter reached 64% of its $6000 goal (as of 8 am, Wed. 12/30)  for  our Giving Tuesday campaign.  Donations may still be made.

 https://givebutter.com/AACCGivingTuesday2025. Kenand the team thank everyone for inviting friends and relatives and chapter supporters to donate.

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, led warm up exercises for the AACC chorus before Joeworked with them on “Welcome Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Gloria.”  He invited Steve Tramack to offer a few points for improvement of the songs that were made right away.  Zak Sandler and Heidi Brown will be soloists for “Have Yourself.” Our own BETTER TOGETHER will be the guest quartet for the show and sing a solo spot in “Gloria.”

Steve was attending the meeting this week as specific coach for Metro Voices.  He particularly worked with them for voice placement and riser placement, plus offered inputs for their holiday songs, as well. The placement exercise was a fun, first-time experience for many of the Metro Voices singers. Thanks also to Steve for donating his coaching fee to the Giving Tuesday campaign! 

Before the two ensembles went to separate rehearsal space to work on holiday show songs, the weekly business meeting was held. Both groups were reminded to be off the paper before next week’s  rehearsal that will be at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street. As a reminder, AACC cannot enter the church on Tuesday until 7:25 pm. Please be careful about that. 

The chapter’s holiday shows are scheduled for Friday December 12 at 8 pm, and December 13 at 7:30 pm, both at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church. Call time for both shows is 5:30 pm for all AACC singers. Uniform for both ensembles for the holiday show will be all black dressy with red and/or green accents. For the Harmonizers, that also means no white shirts. If there is a question, contact Becca Williams. 

Catherine LaValley, show producer, announced lots of details and logistics that members will need to know regarding parking options for members with thoughts about how members could get their family to the show. She also explained it would be good if one passenger in each car takes the shuttle back to the parking area, and then that driver goes to get the other passengers at the church.  

Again, she emphasized the need for members to each sell five more tickets to the shows. Tickets for the shows, “Follow the Season,” are available via Eventbrite. We are not sold out yet! 

She is also appealing for members or their friends who are willing to volunteer outside at the show to direct the parking situation.  Catherine emphasized that this year’s parking and venue challenges are well documented with intentions to remedy next time.  

The show audience will be invited to sing-along on “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and Terry Reynolds is seeking volunteers who would coordinate a section of the audience to sing one of the “days” as part of the fun.  Watch for a detailed message from Terry about volunteering to help. It has always been an audience hit. 

Looking ahead:  Sunday, Dec. 7 some members will sing holiday music for Blue Star Families in Falls Church. Then the Dec. 9 meeting will be back at Fairlington Presbyterian prior to the shows.

AACC will have their traditional holiday carol sing in Old Town on Tues. Dec. 16, gathering at Market Square at 7 pm.  Wear colorful scarves and gloves if it is cold. There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and also the chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest – as the name implies, members are encouraged to “put together” a quartet and enter the fun.  Usually some BHS friends are the judges.  Rules and details to come soon from Terry, but members were encouraged to form a quartet to sing a song, or even a tag, in the contest.  (Since we won’t be meeting for two weeks in December, now is the time to talk to your fellow singers about forming a fun quartet.)  If anyone needs help finding a singer or two for a quartet, Terry will be offering service for this “put together” event.

President Craig Kujawa gave an update for some details regarding the AACC participation at the International convention in St. Louis this summer.  Metro Voices will sing third on Friday in the chorus contest, and the Harmonizers will sing sixteenth that day. As for housing, he request all members to be alert for a housing link (only for members of choruses competing) that we can use to get into an approved hotel. We will be rehearsing on the 20^th floor of the headquarters hotel – a Marriot property.

On another subject, Craig asked members to be watching for a new chapter form to use in suggesting fellow members for any of the official chapter awards to recognize 2025 participation. A list of the awards with a description and a list of former recipients will be sent out with the form. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed two returning guests this week: Josh Frakes and Logan Glauser. Devante Lucas was announced as our newest member.

At this point the two ensembles went to work on their music for the rest of the evening.  Tony and Joe each ran through the songs they will direct on the show for the Harmonizers. Joe shared that local WETA will use our recording of “O Come O Come Emanuel” during this holiday season. He also asked for singers to bring a pretend microphone to animate the fun arrangement of “White Christmas” – a toothbrush, hairbrush, banana, carrot or candy cane – for example.

The Harmonizers wrapped up about 9:30 and Metro Voices worked til 10. There was a good crowd of members and guests at the afterglow this week with reports to share of Thanksgiving travel last week.

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back on the Nov. 25, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Nov. 25, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

AACC held their pre-Thanksgiving chapter meeting at AlexRenew in Old Town Alexandria.  A good crowd was present with a number of guests which included friends and relatives in town for the holiday. Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, mentioned several times how pleased he was that so many members were able to attend this week. The rain was a challenge and there were major delays in traffic this week making it hard for members to get to the meeting. 

"Special note to recipients of this Looking Back release who've been supporters of the Harmonizers (and now the Collective) for years to decades. We invite you to please consider supporting us this Giving Tuesday with a small donation to help us continue with our exciting creative plans for 2026. Even small gifts of $5 or $10 make a difference, and giving is easy via our Giving Tuesday campaign page: https://givebutter.com/AACCGivingTuesday2025. Thank you, as always, for the myriad ways you help to grow our impact!

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, led warm up exercises for the AACC chorus before the two ensembles went to separate rehearsal space to work on holiday show songs.  Both groups were driven to get off the paper before next week, and the directors most often worked on small sections of songs or hot spots that needed some cleaning up.  

The chapter’s holiday shows are scheduled for Friday December 12 at 8 pm, and December 13 at 7:30 pm, both at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street. Call time for both shows is 5:30 pm for all AACC singers. Uniform for both ensembles for the holiday show will be all black dressy with red and/or green accents. If there is a question, contact Becca Williams. 

Catherine LaValley announced lots of details and logistics that members will need to know regarding parking options for members with thoughts about how members could get their family to the show.  She filmed the chorus in action with the many holiday sweaters and scarves as part of her effort to promote the show.  She emphasized the need for members to each sell five more tickets to the shows.  We are not sold out yet!

Tickets for the shows, “Follow the Season,” are now available via Eventbrite. 

Ashley Merryman spoke about the need for announcers for the show. Catherine is seeking members who could dress warm and manage the parking area for the shows. 

Joe kicked off the business session for the meeting with a fun question as to who would be traveling the farthest for the Thanksgiving holiday.  The guests from California took the top prize!

Joe reminded all the singers that there are just two rehearsals left before the shows. 

Then he reminded members about the need to stimulate participation by friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, or customers to make donations to the chapter’s credit (even $5 or $10) for Giving Tuesday on Dec. 2. All members were emailed more details and suggested copy for emails or other appeals to seek donors. In plain words, it is important for the chapter to have a large base of donors/supporters so that larger donors see the worth in giving also.

Samantha Tramack, director of Metro Voices, reported on the many members who participated in the Harmony, Inc. convention recently. 

Mary Cooper welcomed and signed in guests this week: Josh Frakes who found us on line; Devante Lucas; Billy Ermlick; Josh and Ashley Golden, friends of Suranjan Sen; Anna Santine, Rob’s sister; and Hunter Brown, Heidi’s son.  Two members were back with us this week – Chuck Hunter and Cadence Flaherty.

Looking ahead:  On Dec. 2 the chapter meetings will be back at AlexRenew. Sunday, Dec. 7 some members will sing holiday music for Blue Star Families in Falls Church. Then the Dec. 9 meeting will be back at Fairlington Presbyterian prior to the shows.

AACC will have their traditional holiday carol sing again in Old Town on Tues. Dec. 16. There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and also the chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest – as the name implies, members are encouraged to “put together” a quartet and enter the fun.  Usually some BHS friends are the judges.  Rules and details to come soon.

The meeting ended after Joe worked with the AACC chorus on the three songs they will sing on the show – “Welcome Christmas,” “Gloria,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”  Soloists are welcome to submit tapes to Tony for the last one of those songs

There was a big crowd of members and guests at the afterglow this week since many had the next day off or were already enjoying the holiday. 

In other news about chapter members, several AACC members attended a weekend get-away in the Poconos for the annual meeting of DelaSusqueHudMac – the honor chapter of the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Current president is Mike Wallen and current treasurer is Bob Eckman.  The two newest members from our chapter are Jerry Candrilli and Ken Rub. David and Sandy Wright were VIP guests. BELTWAY was one of the guest quartets for the weekend along with SMOKE RING and GIMME FOUR. Several chapter members serve on committees for DELA (as it is often referred to) – Mike Kelly, Steve White, Bill Colosimo, Tony Colosimo, Joe Cerutti, Dave Welter and Dennis Ritchie. DELA recognizes members who have provided outstanding leadership and service to M-AD. 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back on the Nov. 18, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Nov. 18, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

AACC singers planned to walk through Old Town Alexandria this week to promote attendance at the holiday shows in December; however, leaders cancelled the meeting due to the bad rainy cold weather 

The chapter’s holiday shows are scheduled for Friday December 12 at 8 pm, and December 13 at 7:30 pm, both at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street. Call time for both shows is 5:30 pm for all AACC singers. Uniform for both ensembles for the holiday show will be all black dressy with red and/or green accents. If there is a question, contact Becca Williams. 

Catherine LaValley announced via Slack that there will be a shuttle service for both holiday shows from and to Episcopal High School’s parking lot starting at 5 pm. She suggests everyone alert their friends and family about this plan, since parking at the church is very limited.

Tickets for the shows, “Follow the Season,” are now available via Eventbrite. 

Looking ahead:  On Nov. 25 and Dec. 2 the chapter meetings will be back at AlexRenew. Sunday, Dec. 7 some members will sing holiday music for Blue Star Families in Falls Church. Then the Dec. 9 meeting will be back at Fairlington Presbyterian prior to the shows.

AACC will have their traditional holiday carol sing again in Old Town on Tues. Dec. 16. There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and also the chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest – as the name implies, members are encouraged to “put together” a quartet and enter the fun.  Usually some BHS friends are the judges.  Rules and details to come soon.

In other AACC news, Doug White sent word that he is playing Daddy Warbucks in an area production of “Annie;” and Joe reports that Jackson Byrd is playing Billy Flynn in “Chicago” at Thomas Edison High School. 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back on the Nov. 11, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting; Plus Report from Harmony, Inc. Convention

 Looking Back on the Nov. 11, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting; Plus Report from Harmony, Inc. Convention

This week’s meeting was at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street in Alexandria. Singers were asked to enter right at 7:30 pm so that an earlier church event would not be interrupted. A crew set up risers in the front of the sanctuary. 

The Harmonizers and Metro Voices continued their hard work in preparation for the chapter’s holiday show weekend, Friday December 12 at 8 pm, and December 13 at 7:30 pm, both also at the church. Call time for both shows is 5:30 pm for all AACC singers. Uniform for both ensembles for the holiday show will be all black dressy with red and/or green accents. If there is a question, contact Becca Williams.

Thanks to Catherine LaValley for her announcement via Slack about a shuttle service for both holiday shows from and to Episcopal High School’s parking lot starting at 5 pm. She suggests everyone alert their friends and family about this plan, since parking at the church is very limited.

Tickets for the shows, “Follow the Season,” are now available via Eventbrite. 

Metro Voices gathered in the sanctuary for warm up and rehearsal with assistant director, Maggie McAlexander, leading their work this week. Part of their evening they also worked in sectionals on their music. 

The Harmonizers met with artistic director, Joe Cerutti, and our coach and arranger, Steve Armstrong (here from Toronto), to learn about the plans for the contest package for the International contest in July.  Joe share lots of details about previous work and research and creativity to tell the story of the Comedian Harmonists whose story of close harmony success in 1935 (they were as popular as the Beatles were in the USA) was the theme of a recent Broadway musical titled, “Harmony.” During World War II, the group was forced to stop performing by the Nazi regime and all their recordings and movies were trashed. 

Joe encouraged members to watch or search for info about the group to learn more.  Alex Chen will be helping the chapter explain the package and why the performance goal is to share this important close harmony success with the large audience of fellow close harmony performers such as Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) singers.

Music is nearly ready to release to members to start learning.  Auditions for members to be the six Harmonists have been held. 

At this point in the evening, both ensembles gathered in the sanctuary to sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with Joe directing. Chapter executive director, Stan Quick, managed the chapter business meeting that included reminders about the busy end-of-year activities. 

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, AACC will sing in Old Town to promote attendance at the holiday shows – meet at Market Square at 7 pm. Prepare for the weather.  On Nov. 25 and Dec. 2 the meetings will be back at AlexRenew. Sunday, Dec. 7 some members will sing holiday music for Blue Star Families in Falls Church. Then the Dec. 9 meeting will be back at Fairlington Presbyterian prior to the shows.

AACC will have their traditional holiday carol sing again in Old Town on Tues. Dec. 16. There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and also the chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest – as the name implies, members are encouraged to “put together” a quartet and enter the fun.  Usually some BHS friends are the judges.  Rules and details to come soon.

Joe spoke to all about Giving Tuesday on Dec. 2 (a national day for donations to not-for-profits).  He suggests that members might consider making small donations (like under $25) themselves and encourage friends and families to make small donations too. Then chapter community board member, Carolyn Griffin, spoke to the chapter. She was a recipient of the Chapter’s Award of Harmony several years ago and has served on the chapter board since.  She is artistic director of Metro Stage. She shared her thoughts with members about making significant donations for the end-of-year campaign for AACC. She explained the philosophy that since the chapter does not charge membership dues, it was felt members might find it possible to make donations to the campaign that would equal dues and more. She also suggested members consider the value of the vocal training they receive and the relaxation and enjoyment from singing in the chorus when considering how they might step up to the challenge of the campaign. 

Chapter secretary, Cy Shuster, presented membership renewal cards for two AACC members: Antony Takahashi for 23 years, and Bob Blair for 25 years who also received his 25-year pin. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed two new chapter members this week – Susan Friel and Cooper Schwartz. He welcomed five returning guests: Billy Ermlick, Logan Glauser, Devante Lucas, Jerry Condrilli III, and Todd Minners.  Three first-time guests were Jordyn Best,  Tameria Macari and Illaina Macari.   Some former active Harmonizers were on hand this week – Adam Afifi, Stephen Gudauskas, Jim Kirkland, and Troy Hillier.  The chapter welcome song was directed by Jason Lee, assistant director of the Harmonizers.

During the separate rehearsal period for Metro Voices, they bid farewell to Callie Cirillo, who is moving from the Metro Area. 

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, led their work session on their holiday music. They met on the risers in the sanctuary. 

The two ensembles gathered for the close of the evening’s activities and for AACC to sing the chapter’s signature tag, “A Lifetime’s Not Too Long to Live as Friends” for Callie.  Then Steve Armstrong directed “Keep the Whole World Singing” before the riser crew took things down and folks adjourned to the afterglow.

The afterglows continue each Tuesday night at Joe’s home, 3916 Stevens St, Alexandria 22311, right after the chapter meeting. It’s fun and there is a space for tag singing, and goodies like pizza and chips and drinks. All AACC members are welcome. There is plenty of street parking too. 

In other AACC news, reports from the leadership crew of Capital Force – all is good, attendance still strong, and much progress is being made on their songs.

Also, many thanks to Carey Fagerstrom for her thorough report from the Harmony, Inc. contest and convention in Hershey, PA, Nov. 5-8.  Great to learn about all of the AACC members and chapter friends and coaches who were part of that event.

AACC at Harmony Incorporated's (HI) 2025 International Contest and Convention (IC&C) Report

 

Wednesday November 5^th

At the opening ceremony for the convention, Tessa Walker Sifuentes was acknowledged for her work as the HI Youth Programs Coordinator.  She also made two presentations in that role: the first for the renaming of the HI Youth Program to HYPE or Harmony for Youth Performance and Engagement;  the second for the presentation of the HI Youth Member of the Year.  Both Parkside Harmony and Parkside Melody were special performing guests at the ceremony and the two ensembles also performed together with a surprise appearance of Samantha Tramack featured in the opening and closing quartet of their last song “Parting Glass.”  And finally, Chris Buechler was recognized for his many contributions to the HI Judging program and was gifted lifetime affiliate membership to HI.

 

After the opening ceremony, Tessa was seen organizing and signing up people to ‘Sing With The Queens,’ an event that raises money for the youth programs of HI.

 

Thursday November 6^th

The day started with education classes which featured two led by AACC members and coaches: Steve Armstrong with a class on ‘Looking Inside the Music: Brother Can You Spare a Dime,’ and Samantha with a class on ‘Musicianship Gamified.’

 

The judging panel for the contests this week included Steve Armstrong (Musicality), Jay Butterfield (Singing), Alan Lamson (Admin), and Chris Buechler (Admin/Panel Chair).  Seen volunteering backstage for the contests was John Sifuentes.

 

There was a new event this year: a tag contest.  Seen performing was a quartet that included Tessa (tenor), Diane Reynolds (lead), Cathy DeCoste (baritone) [Both the lead and baritone are members of New England Voices in Harmony], and John (bass) singing “Sunshine is Bidding the Day Goodbye.”

 

Friday November 7^th

The day started with the chorus contest and saw Tessa performing with the mic tester chorus, Northern Blend (2024 Chorus Champions).  Singing 2^nd in the contest was Diane Morrical in Bella Nova Chorus under the direction of Richard Lewellen.  Singing 8^th in the contest was Samantha and Carey Fagerstrom in New England Voices in Harmony under the direction of Renee Tramack.  Bella Nova and Diane won fourth place medals while New England Voices In Harmony, Carey and Samantha, won second place medals.

 

In the evening was the Parade of Champions, which was produced this year by Tessa and Samantha.  Seen performing in this show were Tessa, Samantha and Maggie McAlexander with the Association of Harmony Queens Chorus.  Tessa also performed with outgoing chorus champions Northern Blend.  Maggie performed with her quartet SPOT ON (2013 Quartet Champions), while Samantha performed with SHOWCASE (2009 Quartet Champions) and her quartet TAKEN 4 GRANITE (2016 Quartet Champions).  ROULETTE (2024 Quartet Champions) had a shout out to Maggiebefore performing her arrangement of “I'm Coming Back As A Man.”  Spotted in the crowd were Patricia Chow andDavid Breen.

 

Saturday November 8^th

Like Thursday. this day also started with education classes.  Bill Colosimo talked about ‘The Joy of Mixed Barbershop Singing,’ while BROUHAHA taught a master class with a special appearance by LAZY SUSAN quartet: Kim Newcombe (tenor), Ali Hauger (lead), Melody Hine (baritone), Samantha (bass).

 

After the quartet finals contest, Tessa was seen directing Northern Blend chorus during ROULETTE’S swan song set; the first song was an eight part arrangement featuring the quartet.  During the song the chorus was joined on stage by many of the coaches and friends of ROULETTE including Richard Lewellen, John, Samantha, Renee, Steve Tramack, and David Wright. After the song Tessa returned to the stage to present ROULETTE's tenor, Morgan LaCroix, her permanent crown.

 

After the presentation of awards and medals, and the medalist fanfare, Tessa, Samantha and Maggie were part of the Association of Harmony Queens who welcomed the new HI Queens, SYNERGY, into the group.

 

In the evening there was the Showcase of Champions.  Tessa was the emcee for the show. Diane performed with Bella Nova as the fourth place chorus, while Samantha and Carey performed with New England Voices in Harmony as the second place chorus.  During the performance by the new HI Queens, SYNERGY, Joe Cerutti was thanked as one of their coaches this year.

 

Following the showcase there was an afterglow that spanned multiple rooms and hallways with lots of singing including performances by LAZY SUSAN.  Julian LaFlore was spotted teaching and singing tags in one such hallway.

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.