Looking Back on the 2023 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Events and Milestones
(Here is our annual summary of the past year for the Alexandria Chapter. It becomes an important part of our history record. – YeEd.)
The traditional kickoff to launch the 2023 year with reports of plans from the music team, board of directors, and artistic director, Joe Cerutti, was held on January 17, 2023, at Scottish Rite Temple (SRT). These plans were for the Alexandria A Capella Collective (AACC), a new name chosen by the board of directors for the chapter and its ensembles – the Harmonizers and Metro Voices – and announced in October, 2023.
Joe set the stage with his opening remarks that “we are at a rare moment for the chapter with the launch of the 75thanniversary of the chapter and the launch of the Metro Voices ensemble. For the anniversary, the thrust is to focus on the significant past that previous singers have created and then build upon that for the future by adding new ensembles to the chapter such as a youth and a senior chorus.”
The Metro Voices “project chorus” ended in December, 2022, and the formal launch for that group as an ensemble in the Alexandria organization was also on Jan. 17. There were about 20 singer guests who registered for Metro Voices. Those singers auditioned over the next few months or so, and once accepted, joined the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) and the Alexandria Chapter.
The Metro Voices music team was headed by Joe as artistic director for all ensembles. Tessa Walker continued as interim director with a goal to move over to direct the youth chorus ensemble. Joe praised and thanked her for the dedication and hard work to get the project chorus rolling.
The new musical director for Metro Voices, Samantha Tramack, took over as director during the summer, after moving from NH where she was a music educator. She is currently a music educator in Arlington County. Maggie McAlexander was named assistant director. Other section leaders were Sophie Clarke for leads and Sheryl Berlin for baritones.
After the first few months of the year, a pattern was established for the two ensembles to meet on the same Tuesday nights at SRT – typically, both ensembles started out on the risers for warm up sessions and announcements from artistic director, Joe. Then each ensemble worked on their songs, and came back to together for a business session, to work on songs to be sung together, and then for a wrap up with “Keep The Whole World Singing.”
The 2023 musical team for the Harmonizer ensemble was headed by Joe as artistic director, Tony Colosimo as associate director, and Terry Reynolds as assistant director. Randy Lazear was tenor section leader. Ben Watsky andLance Fisher were co-section leaders for the leads. Jason Lee was section leader for the baritones. David Breen was bass section leader. Tyler Carpenter filled a new role as bass section administrative coordinator. Turner Arndtserved as visual leader.
The traditional annual individual interviews of each member were held from Jan. 20-Feb 22 – either at the Harmo House, 3916 Stevens Street, Alexandria, VA, (Joe Cerutti’s home), or via Zoom.
The 2023 board of directors for the Alexandria chapter a d AH, Inc. included Noah Van Gilder, president; Cy Shuster, secretary; Terry Reynolds, treasurer; Devin Gerzof and Turner Arndt, members at large; John Greene, Dave Kohls, Carolyn Griffin, community members at large. Carolyn served as vice president. This board managed budgets, policy and oversite, plus comparison with the strategic plan.
The day-to-day operation for the entire chapter (all ensembles) include:
Executive Director – Randall Eliason until Oct. 1, then Stan Quick
General Manager – Susan Fitzpatrick
Artistic Director – Joe Cerutti, Jr.
Music Team Admin – Terry Reynolds
Membership Director – Jacob Broude
Contest Director – Craig Kujawa
Chapter Secretary – Dave DesPortes
Development Director – Ken Rub
BHS Finance Director – Dave Welter
AHI Finance Director – Carl Kauffmann
Communications Director – Steve Murane
Director of Shows – Doug White
Operations Director – Gary Cregan
Education Director – Sheryl Berlin
Volunteer Activities Director – vacant
Archivist/Historian – Don Harrington
The Alexandria Chapter has seven Distinguished Service Awards to present each year. In addition, some Meritorious Service Awards are often presented by the president. The 2022 chapter president, Noah Van Gilder, conducted the annual awards ceremony as part of the May 30, 2023 chapter meeting at Scottish Rite Temple.
Traditionally, the awards are made at the start of the new year. These awards recognize the service and dedication of the awardees for 2022. Award candidates are nominated by any member of the chapter, and are voted on by the chapter Board of Directors.
Noah chose to award four Meritorious Service Awards to Cy Shuster, Lance Fisher, David Breen, and Rick Savage.
The following Distinguished Service Awards were presented to:
New Note of the Year Award – Michael Pugh
Honor Award – Turner Arndt
Dick Hall Spirit of Harmony Award – Jacob Broude
Ibbianne and Wilbur Sparks Award – Kristin and Mike Kelly
Oz Newgard Award – Ryan Mextorf
Sandy Stamps Open Arms Award – Jack Pitzer
Memorial Award – Randall Eliason
Here are some highlights of the AACC year:
Singing Valentine messages were delivered by quartets to local organizations and friends of the chapter in February in the Alexandria Metro area. Dean Rust coordinated this project including visits to several senior centers.
Cabaret night on April 26 at THE BIKE CLUB in Alexandria was organized as a “watch party” for our Spring2ACTion fundraising effort. The Cabaret featured individuals or small groups from the Harmonizers and Metro Voices performing for a live audience of friends and family and live cast to our supporters. It had a bit of a “Telethon” feeling as we reminded those tuning in of our Spring2ACTion fundraising goals.
Seventeen acts performed non-barbershop material for the cabaret. The chapter provided a piano accompanist for the event and rehearsal of the acts.
As reported by executive director, Randall Eliason, thanks to efforts by chapter members in both the Harmonizer chorus and Metro Voices, we exceeded our ambitious goal of $75, 000 for Spring2ACTion! There were two matching grants of $25,000. We were pleased to report that as of 8:30 am on April 28 (late donations continued to trickle in) the total was $78,035!
In addition, we won $1,250 in prize money for the day - $500 for the most donors during the Power Hour, $500 for the most money raised during the Power Hour, and $250 for 4th place for greatest number of donors for a medium-sized organization (321 donors). More than 40 members created individual fundraising pages that resulted in donations. Thanks must go out to the great teamwork of chapter development director, Ken Rub; executive director Randall; and chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick, who worked to get out the messages to members, alumni and patrons of the chapter - many of whom made donations during the event. Tony Colosimo organized the performing acts for the cabaret as well as invited the accompanist.
Finally, the Cabaret in the evening was a very fun event that showcased a lot of the remarkable talent we have within our organization. Tony Colosimo was key in working with the performing groups for the Cabaret. It was fun to be together as a “watch party” for the final tally on the donations! While we were there, the donations came in that put us over the $75,000 mark.
The traditional Crawfish Boil was at the Harmo House for all members May 6. Those who raised $250 for Spring2ACTion attended for free. Scott Kahler came from New Orleans as chef. Ken Rub and his crew organized the fun event.
The chapter hosted an intern for several weeks in the summer to work on chapter history materials. Kaj Vaisanencame from Barbershop in Germany (BinG) and was hosted at the Harmo House. He sang baritone on several shows while he was with us.
The Harmonizers took a bus trip to Newport News, VA, for a show at Ferguson Center for the Arts on April 22. This performance was the final act on Saturday night of the Christopher Newport University ‘Virginia Community Music Festival.’ Our performance was subsidized by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts Touring Artists program. The program provides funding to help Virginia artists bring their performances to areas of the state outside their local community. The Harmonizers have been approved artists in this program for several years.
On Sunday, May 28 of Memorial Day weekend, AACC singers gathered at The Bike Club in Old Town Alexandria for a 3-5 pm session to enjoy Beatles-a-Day with Mo Field and Amelia Charnock. The chapter also welcomed Veterans for this Memorial Day Weekend and an ensemble of Harmonizers sang the “Armed Forces Medley.” Dean Rust organized the Veterans Tribute event.
An annual chorus retreat was held on June 9-11 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Both ensembles of AACC participated. Housing was in campus housing and the retreat was in the student building where the meals were served and where the Saturday night party was held. Craig Kujawa, contest director, was coordinator. Coaches for this year’s retreat were David McEachern from Toronto, and Rick Spencer from Nashville. Sessions began Friday evening and ended on Sunday at noon.
At the retreat, Joe announced and explained the Class of 2023 tradition. Each of the 20 new members was given a bandana to wear at every chapter event and Joe promised there would be bandana checks now and then! Joe also thanked Tyler Carpenter for making them – the red bandanas had the logos of the ensemble on them – 14 for Metro Voices and 6 for the Harmonizers. Mark Klostermeyer helped pass out the bandanas at the retreat to Sheryl Berlin, Patricia Chow, Sophie Clark, Elaine Cooper, Mary Cooper, Elisabeth Cosh, Carey Fagerstrom, Cadence Flaherty, Jeanne Hillinick, Lenna Jawdat, Heidi Krukowski, Maggie McAlexander, Charlyne Chuck Miller, Samantha Tramack, Steve Gudauska, David Hillinick, Sean O’Brien, Chad Ross, John Taber and Kaj Vaisanen
Friday night the coaching began on “Why We Sing” with both ensembles. There were ice cream treats for everyone back in the dorms.
Samantha Tramack, new director for Metro Voices, was welcomed by Joe and she did the warm up session at 8:30 am on Saturday after breakfast. There was coffee for those arrivals who came on Saturday morning, and there was a bandana check. Metro Voices worked in Hill Hall adjacent to the main Forum facility where the Harmonizers stayed to work on “Wee Small Hours.”.
Saturday evening’s events began with a bandana check and then the skit from the Class of 23. Chad Ross was organizer and kept the class energized. They did a take-off on a typical chapter meeting – including real onion skins peeled off a big onion which Stephen Gudauska gave to Tony as a memento! They ended their ‘meeting’ with “It’s Great to Be a Demonizer” cheer!
Joe welcomed former retreat organizer, Chuck McKeever, who came to celebrate with old friends – he lives now in the Westminster area.
Jason Lee and Tyler Carpenter were game wranglers for the evening and got everyone up and laughing. The evening ended with a quartet appearance by PRAXIS who sang three songs – Francesco Logozzo, Kevin Clark, Lance Fisher, and David Breen .
To wrap up on Sunday, Joe thanked coordinators Craig Kujawa and Ken Rub; Dennis Ritchey for bringing our equipment; Jason Lee and Tyler Carpenter for the game fun; Doug White for help with the party bar; Jack Pitzer for the ice cream treats; and Chad Ross and the Class of 23. He thanked the members for their hard work and willingness to stay focused, and for their dedication to improve our music. He also welcomed input or suggestions from anyone with ideas for future retreats.
The chapter started the Tuesday, June 13, evening with an appearance at Alexandria City Hall at 7 pm to sing in the City Council Chambers. Mayor Justin Wilson issued a proclamation recognizing June as Harmonizer Anniversary Month. The proclamation honored the chapter’s commitment to represent the City of Alexandria around the world and especially in the Greater Washington DC Metro Area. It also recognized the addition of Metro Voices to the Alexandria Chapter. A large chorus of Harmonizers and Metro Voices filled the Chamber to sing “Why We Sing.”
Chapter president Noah Van Gilder accepted the proclamation and expressed appreciation for the recognition. Artistic director Joe Cerutti thanked the Council ,too, and directed the chorus.
Chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick, was key to organizing this event including welcoming local media to cover this important part of the chapter’s 75 Anniversary Year Celebration.
The Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society was chartered on June 19, 1948, and the chapter celebrated the 75th anniversary on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at the current meeting place, the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) on Braddock Road in Alexandria, VA. Just over 200 attended the event which included appearances by the current Harmonizer chorus and the new Metro Voices chorus that make up the chapter today. Many wore the new light blue anniversary camp shirts with the 75th logo.
Besides the singers and family members, many of the guests were former members or inactive members who had gotten an invite or heard about the celebration that started at 7 pm with exhibits in the lobby. These were organized by the chapter’s history committee and included five of our past chorus uniforms (one was the smoking jacket from the 1998 gold medal performance, and one was the often-talked about yellow suit with green piping from the 1978 fourth place performance); the signed charter from 1948; the recent proclamation by Alexandria City Council; miscellaneous photos; and the four trophies earned with the four gold medal performances of the Harmonizers. History committee chair Don Harrington set up the displays which also included a great poster board display summarizing highlights of the chapter history prepared by historian emeritus Martin Banks. The assorted photos were from Steve White’scollection.
Membership director Jacob Broude welcomed the many guests and offered nametags. Invitations to former members and other chapter alumni were sent as a byproduct of work by the 75th anniversary committee to update our records of former members, headed by general manager Susan Fitzpatrick. A printed celebration program was available for everyone.
Joe welcomed several important guest speakers via Zoom starting with Marty Monson, CEO of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) who spoke from headquarters in Nashville. He acknowledged the chapter’s many examples of breaking new ground and in setting an example for other chapters regarding community outreach. He also reminded everyone that this chapter milestone was achieved by all the 1,000 or more men who have ever been members. He extended a thank you from barbershoppers around the world for setting such high standards!
The next speaker was Geri Geis via Zoom from her home in Florida. She shared stories of how the chorus members responded with love and respect as she encouraged them to perform their music so “it looked like it sounded.” Much of her remarks saluted her team-mate during the many years, Scott Werner, who was director.
Scott, speaking from his home also in Florida via Zoom, paid tribute to the men on the risers who worked so hard to improve; and he included in that tribute the great work of fellow directors and section leaders. At the peak of the “gold medal competition years” the chorus was over 120 men on the risers.
Richard Lewellen was named director of the Harmonizer chorus when Scott retired to Florida. He too spoke via Zoom and recalled the great contest package of “Summertime” and “Lazy Bones.”
Randall Eliason, chapter executive director, was emcee for the program and welcomed remarks from the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) president Steve Kirsch followed by remarks from BHS president and fellow Harmonizer, John Santora. John is the fourth Harmonizer to be elected as Society president – Wilbur Sparks, Darryl Flinn, Alan Lamson and John.
Members of the Washington, DC, Chapter of the BHS were invited to stand and be recognized as representatives of their chapter that was the sponsoring Society chapter to get the Alexandria Chapter started.
Two members were invited to offer personal remarks. Jack Pitzer, a 56-year member, shared stories from behind-the-scenes during his years including the famous cheese sales efforts, the start of the chapter presidents’ ball, and a tribute to the founders that some members actually sang with on the risers.
Mike Wallen, currently director of the Richmond, VA, Chapter and who was the first associate director of the chorus, spoke, too. One major part of his remarks was the story about the chorus singing for Perry Como and Ray Charles at the Kennedy Center Honors show. After his remarks, Joe invited Mike to direct a riser full of current and former members who gathered to sing “Sweet and Lovely” and the beloved Harmonizer gold-medal contest ballad, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
Next the chapter presented six special 75th Anniversary Diamond Awards for dedicated service and forward-thinking vision that brought the chapter to this milestone anniversary year. These recipients helped bring change and growth to a great chorus and the chapter.
Chapter president Noah Van Gilder presented the large diamond-shaped awards to Jack Pitzer, Terry Reynolds, Ken Fess, Randall Eliason, Liz Birnbaum and Joe Cerutti. The candidates for these unique awards were named by the 75th anniversary committee and finalists elected by a nominating team headed by Bruce Roehm. Bruce and Alan Wile worked to get the awards prepared and helped with the presentation.
The Harmonizers and Metro Voices then sang “Why We Sing” - the lyrics and music from Greg Gilpin and the arrangement by David Wright highlight why 75 years of chapter harmony and family fellowship exist still today.
At this point, all guests moved to the cafeteria at SRT for more fellowship. Noah read the proclamation naming June as Harmonizer Anniversary Month that was issued by the Alexandria City Council a couple weeks earlier when the mayor signed it.
All the guests were seated at decorated tables which included yummy cupcakes decorated with music eighth notes, waters and candies and 75th anniversary buttons. In the center of the table were copies of “A History to Celebrate the Harmonizers’ 75th Year.” The four-color printed history booklet was prepared by Jack Pitzer with a team of other members and editors. It is now available electronically.
A ceremonial cake cutting took place with longest active member, Jack, and newest active member, Alex Pierce of Metro Voices, doing the honors to serve the delicious cake with the 75th anniversary logo on the icing.
The finale of the night was a great appearance by BETTER TOGETHER quartet with Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo and Heather and Andrew Havens.
Thank you tributes for the party included a great round of cheers for Kathy and Carl Kauffmann who planned and orchestrated the celebration. They were helped by Kitty and Frank Fedarko and Rob Barnovsky for set up; Ike Evans as photographer; Mike Kelly for the collection of historical audio visuals on screens during the gathering time; and Mike and Dennis Ritchey for their AV expertise getting sound, Zoom connections and video projections in both the auditorium and cafeteria. The speakers were thanked and presented certificates of appreciation created by chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick.
There was a thank you to the chapter’s history committee for their work behind the scenes and for the lobby displays: chairman Don Harrington, chapter historian; Martin Banks, historian emeritus who produced Throwback Thursday history pieces via Facebook during the months prior; Jack Pitzer; David Welter; Howard Nestlerode; Ike Evans; John Sifuentes; Bob Blair; Bob Rhome; Kaj Vaisanen – summer intern; and Gary Cregan, chapter operations director.
Finally, a thank you to the overall 75th anniversary committee: Steve White, chairman; Randall Eliason; Mick Stamps; Jack Pitzer; Joe Cerutti; Susan Fitzpatrick; and Bruce Roehm. This committee met regularly in the months leading up to the June 20 party. Steve Murane worked with the committee to promote the anniversary in BHS and local media.
Ten quartets with Alexandria members competed at the M-AD spring contests: PRAXIS, BREAKTHROUGH, BETTER TOGETHER, BREAKFAST BLEND, SILVER ALERT, BAYSIDE HARMONY, ODD MAN OUT, THE ELDERLY BROTHERS, REVERB, and LEGACY
In the summer, both ensembles appeared at the outdoor concert in Franconia (formerly Lee) District amphitheater. It was a Fairfax County Park Authority free concert on Telegraph Rd. hosted by County Supervisor for Franconia District, Rodney Lusk. It was also the first show appearance by Metro Voices so there were lots of photos taken.
The chapter’s annual Put Together Quartet contest was part of a chapter meeting on May 30, at SRT. Tyler Carpenterwas chairman. Emcee for the contest was Kevin Mendez. Jack Pitzer was secretary for the judging panel and introduced this year’s panel of five members we don’t see often: Sam Brothers and members of the FOUR MAN VOCAL BAND quartet – Randy Lazear, tenor; Bob Bates, lead; Larry Walker, baritone: and Dave Cureton, bass. The quartet meets weekly and has continued to meet and sing for over 20 years.
This year’s contest had seventeen quartets! There were combinations of singers from the Harmonizers and from Metro Voices. There were three categories of performances – regular or traditional song, a comedy number, or a tag – which was a new category for this contest. Winning quartet singers were each presented a medal with a red, white and blue neck strap. Tyler announced the winners and presented the medals.
There were a couple major chapter work days organized during the year by Gary Cregan, operations manager, to get a crew together to consolidate and move the chapter storage to the Pickett Street area; and to empty SRT for the move to AlexRenew.
AACC hosted the Heavy Medal chorus from Barbershop in Germany (BinG) while they were in the DC area prior to their appearance in Louisville at the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) contest. The Alexandria singers hosted the German singers in their homes. A joint concert was held at the George Washington Masonic Memorial which included Metro Voices, the Harmonizers, and Heavy Medal, whose singers live in cities all over Germany and meet three times a year to form a chorus of BinG members who have earned a medal in their competitions. Heavy Medal was directed by Nobert Hammes and Matthias Neuberger. Alexandria members also organized DC area tours for the BinG members such as the Capitol, a pub tour, a horse and cattle farm, bird watching tour, Arlington Cemetery, or walking tour of major monuments on the Mall.
Even though the Alexandria chorus did not compete at the Louisville, KY, International contest and convention in early July, a good number of members did compete and earned high marks for their work and talent.
FIRST TAKE with Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens captured a third-place bronze medal out of the 60 quartets that started the quarterfinals contest. Two other quartets with Alexandria members were in the semi-finals round of the contest. SWEET & SOUR with Samantha and Mert Tramack placed 18th. Placing 19th was WILDFIRE with Kevin Mendez. PRAXIS with Lance Fisher and David Breen placed 35th. Cy Wood, our choreographer, sang in MIXTAPE and placed 45th. Rick Taylor sang in LEGACY and placed 43rd.
Maggie McAlexander sang with ADRENALINE in the quartet and chorus festival and earned a superior ranking. Bill Colosimo and John Santora sang in a chorus representing the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) board in the Festival too. Joe Cerutti and Chris Buechler were on the judging panel for the festival. There were several Alexandria singers on stage with other choruses in the contest.
Earlier in the week, four Harmonizers were announced as 50-year members: David Wilt, Carl Kauffman, Jay Butterfield and John Rettenmayer. The chapter did have an advertisement on the contest venue show screen to promote the 75th anniversary show.
The 75th Anniversary Show on Sept. 9, at Schlesinger Hall show was a perfect culmination of the yearlong anniversary celebration by the chapter; and by all accounts, it was likely one of the best shows the chapter has ever produced during the 75 years.
The theme, “This is Why We Sing,” helped convey the story about the great moments in Harmonizer history, the strong history of those members who went before, and the excitement and pride of moving forward for another 75 years. The theme was used by the many members who were asked to introduce a song or feature on the show – each of them spoke briefly about “why I sing.” It was a warm and special part of the show evening.
David Wilt, keystone donor for the chapter’s 75th anniversary, shared his thoughts about the show – “it was so professional and sophisticated. The “Defying Gravity” number could have been on Broadway. The transition to each song or feature was awesome. The whole evening was a heart-warming experience for the audience and especially for former members.”
As the audience assembled (rushing in out of a heavy summer rain storm), they were greeted by decorations and friendly faces of volunteers who helped with tickets, and passing out printed programs. A display of Harmonizer history items was also in the lobby area.
The Schlesinger Hall was full for the 7 pm show! Long-time members were there, barbershop friends and fans of the chapter were there from far and near, new patrons were there, guests who paid for VIP seats and a special welcome chance to hear the guest quartets were there, former officers and coaches and judges were there, arrangers of Harmonizer songs were there, family members were there, and members of a future generation of the Harmonizer family were there.
Show attendees were seated in unreserved seats in the auditorium beginning at 6:30 pm. Tickets were $20 for youth, $40 for general admission, and $150 for VIP. Soon after the doors opened, the audience was treated to a fantastic video production of the chapter musical performances from the past. It wrapped up right at 7 pm which is when the Harmonizers finished taking the stage in a casual entrance plan and grabbed the audience’s attention with “I’m the Music Man.”
Randall Eliason welcomed the audience, explained the theme and shared “why I sing” to set the stage for the show. He shared that the many changes in the chapter suggest ‘something’s coming’ all the time – a perfect segue into “Something’s Comin” with a great choreo plan by David McEachern.
Will Cox spoke about his 45 years in the chapter and why he sings and his recall of the chapter singing “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” to win a gold medal. The chorus sang the song for the show.
Joe Cerutti spoke about his 17 years as artistic director and recognized former artistic director Geri Geis, who was in the audience, for her work in the past for songs like “Wee Small Hours.” Joe went on to share the chapter’s vision and dreams about changing the core values of the chapter to allow more people to sing. He explained the addition of the Metro Voices ensemble as one step toward a future chapter that will include a seasonal youth chorus (Capital Force to be launched in 2024) and a senior daytime chorus (likely to be launched in 2025). The 19 members of Metro Voices were on stage when Joe finished and they sang two songs – “On the Wayside” and “I See the Light.” Their new director, Samantha Tramack, directed the first song; and interim director, Tessa Walker, who help launch Metro Voices, directed the second song.
Samantha stepped off the risers to tell why she sings, and to introduce the first guest quartet for the show – the 2007 Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International Quartet Champions – MAX Q. Tony DeRosa was also proud to have his son Joe singing tenor for the quartet to fill in for Greg Clancy. Gary Lewis was baritone and Jeff Oxley was bass.
The curtains opened again and the Harmonizers performed their always-popular rendition of “New York, New York.” Long-time Harmo fans applauded as the song began, and as usual, the front row kick-line brought the audience members to their feet. The extra work by the front row for this show yielded some great entertainment for the audience. Bruce Roehm is front row captain. Congrats to new front row guys, Chad Ross and Matt Ambler (although Matt broke his ankle in a recent rehearsal and did not do the major choreo numbers for the show). The front row wore their bright orange sox to match the chorus orange ties!
Assistant director of Metro Voices, Maggie McAlexander, spoke about why she sings, and then welcomed Virginia State Delegate Elizabeth Bennett Parker, who presented a Commending Resolution from the state legislature. Joe Cerutti and chapter president, Noah Van Gilder, accepted the certificate.
During the presentation, the two ensembles combined on the risers, and Sheryl Berlin spoke about her over 30-year career as a music educator and about her many years as director of education for the chapter. She shared that most chapter members feel the theme song for the show - “Why We Sing” – tells the honest story about why we all sing!
After the 15-minute intermission, the Harmonizers were first up to sing the haunting and emotional rendition of a number titled “San Francisco” from the musical the chorus sang with Kristen Chenoweth at Strathmore titled “I Am Harvey Milk.” Terry Reynolds, a 31-year member, introduced the song and shared the meaning of the song and how it had impacted the chapter. The chorus was accompanied by Harmonizer Zak Sandler. The audience reaction was halting – a long silence before generous applause.
President Noah spoke of his singing experiences and introduced a new song the chapter had commissioned for the 75thanniversary in memory of Sandy Stamps, a long-time chapter supporter and volunteer. It was written by Rasmus Krigstrom based on a poem, “Calling Dreams” by Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880-1966). Director Joe saluted Rasmus who stepped out from back stage to be recognized.
Kevin Mendez was the next member to speak about why he sings – as a really new chapter member but long-time barbershop singer. He introduced Metro Voices to sing “Don’t Mean a Thing” and “Fight Song.” Sophie Clark sang the solo for “Fight Song.”
Tessa Walker welcomed to the stage the 2012 BHS gold medalists, RINGMASTERS, from Stockholm, Sweden. Rasmus was the lead. Jakob Stenberg was tenor. Emanuel Roll was baritone. Didier Linder was bass. After their highly energetic set, the quartet sang the introduction for “Impossible Dream” and when the curtains opened, the Harmonizers sang the rest of the song with them.
The Harmonizers continued to entertain with their exciting performance of “Sit Down You’re Rockin the Boat” with a major choreography package designed by Cy Wood. The front row was on display for the whole song and added a “water effect” while the chorus was a rocking boat at sea. Lance Fisher was soloist in this number.
Tony Colosimo spoke about his life-long singing experience and introduced the finale with both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices on the risers to sing “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” arranged by Steve Tramack. Tony andSamantha sang a wonderful duet to wrap up this number to close the show.
Top leadership for the show started with Joe Sr. and Janet Cerutti who signed on months before to produce the event in cooperation with chapter shows director, Doug White. (Joe and Janet helped decorate the stage with some family friends too.) Chapter executive director, Randall Eliason, chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick, and artistic director, Joe Cerutti get credit for pulling all the parts together for a great night of harmony. Leadership from the music team, especially Terry Reynolds , and the section leaders of both ensembles, and all members of the operation team were also key to the success. Certainly, the hard work and extra effort by all the chorus singers to prepare the music and choreography must be mentioned, too.
Stage manager for the show was Greg Tepe. Operations team members helped Gary Cregan set the risers up on Thursday. Mike Kelly managed the audio visual crew with help from Dennis Ritchey and Gary. Gary coordinated the blue suit pants and vests uniform for the Harmonizers. Metro Voices wore black outfits with several members wearing a rust accent color. Randall Eliason organized backstage snacks for the performers and Doug White brought bottled waters for all.
Robyn Murane coordinated a large crew of volunteers from the ranks of the chapter family for ticket sale counter operation, welcoming patrons, passing out programs, and helping guests with special needs. That crew included Dave Kohls. Craig Kujawa, Alex Chen. Walt Page, Kitty Fedarko, Dixie Kennett, Chris Buechler, Isabella Salmi, Sylvia Kelty, and Jonah Philipp. Deanna Thompson, Don’s daughter, helped all day supporting the VIP guest program.
Brian Wolf was show photographer coordinated by chapter communications director Steve Murane. All sorts of promotion efforts were used to invite patrons and friends to the show – mostly the chapter members, plus social media and outlets in the barbershop world such as at the International and District conventions. The chapter also used direct mail to reach former members.
There was a display of Harmo history in the lobby prepared by historian emeritus, Martin Banks, and set up by current historian, Don Harrington. Mark Klostermeyer added two beautiful chapter photos to the display that went to the Harmo House after the show. A printed program was produced for this show with ad sales coordinated by Frank Fedarko and Adam Afifi (thanks to the many members who sold ads). Publishing was coordinated by Susan Fitzpatrick.
There was a fun afterglow following the show at a new venue – The Garden on Eisenhower Avenue, not too far from the show venue. Ken Rub was in charge of it and was helped by Will Whittaker, Susan Fitzpatrick, Randall Eliason and Carl Kauffmann to operate the bar. Food was good (catered by Donna O’Brien) and a solid line up of quartets sang for the nearly 200 guests. Assistant director of Metro Voices, Maggie McAlexander, was emcee for the afterglow. MAX Q and RINGMASTERS, the guest quartets, sang one song together at the afterglow. The singing went on until the party ended at 1:15 am and then the tag singing continued in the parking lot!
The 2023 Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Contest/Convention was Sept. 29-30 in York, PA. Chuck Hunter coached the chorus just prior to the convention. It was a great weekend of barbershop harmony and fun for the members of the chapter who sang on stage in the two choruses and in the four quartets that represented our chapter.
Friday night’s quartet contest saw four quartets with Harmonizers in the semifinal round: REVERB; LEGACY; BREAKTHROUGH; and BETTER TOGETHER.
Three advanced to the finals round on Saturday night with BREAKTHROUGH as mic tester quartet. LEGACY ended up 8th. BETTER TOGETHER set the standard high in their performances but came in second place when a quartet from Hell’s Kitchen, NY, SMOKE RING, outscored them by six points!! REVERB finished 18th.
The chorus contest got an early start on Saturday morning. Metro Voices was invited to be the mic tester chorus and they were terrific! They earned 1,384 points or 76.9%! Founding-director, Tessa Walker, was director for this performance with Maggie McAlexander, Sheryl Berlin, Sophie Clarke, Lenna Jawdat, Heidi Suckow-Krukowski, Cadence Flaherty, Elisabeth Cosh, Mireille Kouagou, Elaine Cooper, Mary Cooper, Jeanne Hillinck and Sylvia Kelty.
The 55 Harmonizer singers captured a score of 1,611 points or 89.5 percent. This score entitles them to compete in the 2024 International contest in Cleveland, OH. When the curtain opened, Joe spoke briefly to share that this package was a tribute for our 75th anniversary and also to honor our former artistic director, Geri Geis, who died recently. Both of the presentation plans for the songs were designed by her. It was a moving performance and top-notch entertainment – “Wee Small Hours of the Morning/Always” arranged by Walter Latzko, and “New York, New York” with it’s exciting front row kick-line ending. The chorus wore the pants and vest from the blue suit with orange ties. Associate director Tony Colosimo stepped forward, after Joe spoke, to be the director for the ballad in the package.
A number of Harmonizers sang in the new M-AD Seniors Chorus in the contest which qualified them to sing at the BHS MidWinter. Also, several members sang on stage with other M-AD choruses.
After the chorus contest, the annual induction of new members to the M-AD Hall of Honor – members who have provided significant services to the district. Many Harmonizers have been added over the years, and one more was added this weekend – Sheryl Berlin, our chapter director of education, a founding member of Metro Voices and a major leader for the M-AD Harmony College East.
Four of our members serve on the M-AD events team to run things back stage for the contest – Dennis Ritchey, Brian Ammerman, Ken Rub and Mike Kelly.
Steve White is coordinator of MADAQC – Mid Atlantic District Association of Quartet Champions. It was their 25thanniversary this year and as always, they welcomed the new quartet champs into their ranks at the end of the Saturday night session. Here again, there were several from the Harmonizer family who were there to sing and welcome the new champs.
The annual outreach for singing fellowship with Alfred Street Men’s Choir was October 11 at their church. There were 35 Harmonizers and 22 members of Alfred Street First Baptist men’s choir present for the singing and for the social time at the end of the evening. Dr. Joyce Garrett from First Baptist welcomed all the singers and explained how she and Joe Cerutti came up with the idea for the first fellowship event. Each ensemble taught the group a new song and performed a song on their own.
There was a special guest night in October at SRT to invite prospective members to consider singing with either ensemble. Membership director, Jacob Broude, was in charge. Members of both ensembles brought prospects.
During the year, the chapter added another method of communication among members when Michael Berksonlaunched Slack. He held workshops to help members learn to use the new tool.
For 2023, chapter leaders organized a variety of meeting night options for both ensembles. These options meant that rehearsal time and the space in SRT were well used. That plan also meant some alternative locations some nights. Some events on those additional nights included social events like a visit to a brewery or wine tasting; or singing in Old Town Alexandria during Halloween and at Christmas.
The singers in Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) were busy with two major holiday shows on Saturday, December 16 and Sunday, December 17. There was a dress rehearsal for those shows on December 12.
The Fredrick, MD, Catactones barbershop chorus invited the Harmonizers and Metro Voices to be guests on their holiday show at Urbana High School in the Fredrick area. The theme for their show was The Secret of Christmas and started at 3:30 pm. The Alexandria part of the show included most of the same songs used for the show on Sunday. The Catactones had refreshments for all singers back stage and that allowed for the two groups to visit and meet each other. Great to see former Harmonizers Scott Hoge, Garry vom Lehn and Biff Gaut at this performance.
On Sunday, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices repeated the holiday music and performance for their own show at Fairlington United Methodist Church (UMC) on King Street at 3:30 pm. Show patrons responded generously to bring canned goods to the show for Alive!, an Alexandria food gathering group to serve those in need. Over 500 pounds was donated!
The Sunday performance was live streamed thanks to Harmonizer leadership from Dean Rust, who made certain that residents at the following eight senior living facilities could watch the show: Brandywine Living; Sunrise of Mt. Vernon; Sunrise in Alexandria; Paul Springs; Elance at West Side; Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center; Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads; and Goodwin House Alexandria.
AACC shows director, Doug White, and chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick, with some volunteers, welcomed all the patrons (who had preregistered for the free concert). Other volunteers helped collect the food donations at the door and helped patrons to their seats (patrons had arrived during a severe rain storm in the local area!).
The chorus filled the choir area and the patrons filled the sanctuary and its balcony – the acoustics were great. Singers wore dressy black attire with green and red accents.
Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, took his position during the audience welcoming applause and the Harmonizers kicked off the concert with “J I N G L E Bells.” Steve White brought his family heirloom sleigh bells to ring during this fun number.
Terry Reynolds welcomed everyone to this special event during the 75th year of the chapter. All during the concert, various members came forward to introduce the song or tell a little story. Associate Harmonizer director, Tony Colosimo, directed “Deck The Halls;” Joe directed “Believe;” Tony directed “Little Saint Nick;” Joe directed “Let It Snow” and “Grinch.” Terry did the narration about the grinch with a crazy hat plus he created chaos as he told the story by moving all through the chorus and hiding behind some of the singers.
A combined chorus of the two Alexandria ensembles performed “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Matt Ambler and Catherine La Valley sang solos for this number.
The Harmonizers left the stage and Samantha Tramack directed Metro Voices for “Sing We Noel,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “The Man with the Bag.”
Will Cox entertained the audience, as he has at many holiday shows, with his comedic recitation of “The Night Before Christmas” – even as he forgot some of the words, or made up some in order to make things rhyme.
Joe invited team of singers into the aisles to help with an audience sing-along – “Rudolph,” “Joy to the World,” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with singers coaching a few rows of the audience with crazy words for each of the twelve days. It was fun to bring back this tradition from the era of holiday dinner shows organized by the Harmonizers. Another tradition was for the chorus musical leadership to steal the spotlight for the ‘Five Golden Rings’ line – and our team stole the show with a louder and higher tag each time! Thanks to Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of the Metro Voices; Samantha, Joe and Tony.
The Harmonizers returned to the stage and David Breen sang the solo to start “Let All Mortal Flesh.” A small ensemble sang an original “Dreidel” song created by Josh Meyer. The singers were Kellen Hertz, Heidi Krukowski, Devin Gerzof, Michael Berkson, Matt Ambler, David Breen, Josh Meyer, Turner Arndt, Ben Watsky, Sheryl Berlin, and Tony Colosimo.
Following that song, a quartet with Lance Fisher, Tony Colosimo, Josh Meyer, and David Breen sang “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” which was an introduction for the chorus to sing “Silent Night.”
As a wrap up for the show, Joe thanked the Fairlington UMC for their welcoming help to host the show; thanked the folks at Alive! for their work; and thanked all those who made it to the show in the rain. He invited them to make a freewill donation as they left the church to singers stationed at the door. The final song was “Do You Hear What I Hear” with both ensembles combined for an eight-part arrangement. The soloists for this year’s version of this holiday show closer were Frank Fedarko, Terry Reynolds, and Heidi Krukowski.
The chorus sang holiday greetings, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ as the show ended.
The chapter regularly acknowledges the program support it receives from the Commission for the Arts of Alexandria, Virginia. Partial funding for performances is provided by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to this support in 2023, financial support came from the David Wilt gift and from Spring2ACTion, dues replacement contributions of members, the Giving Tuesday Campaign, other grants, plus shows and concerts.
Current chapter president, Noah Van Gilder, presided at the annual meeting on Oct. 17, 2023, of the chapter to elect the board of directors for 2024. A quorum was present and the following board members were elected: Noah Van Gilder, from the Harmonizers – President; Carolyn Griffin, from the community - Vice President; Terry Reynolds, from the Harmonizers – Treasurer; Cy Shuster, from the Harmonizers – Secretary; Turner Arndt, from the Harmonizers – Member-at-Large; Dave Kohls, from the community – Member-at-Large; Mary Cooper, from Metro Voices – Member-at-Large; Charlyne “Chuck” Miller from Metro Voices – Member-at-Large; and Michael Berksonfrom the Harmonizers – Member-at-Large.
In October, the organization explored a new meeting location in Alexandria – the sixth floor of the AlexRenew building at 1800 Limerick Street. The AACC finished 2023 there for their meetings and worked on music for the appearances at the BHS MidWinter Convention in NYC on January 11, 2024.
There were four deaths among the Harmonizer family for 2023 including Bob Caldwell, Royall and Geri Geis andSteve Guy.
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 75th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)
