Thursday, February 25, 2021

Looking Back on the Feb. 23rd 2021 Virtual Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Feb. 23rd 2021 Virtual Chapter Meeting

 

This week’s virtual meeting started off with lots of good comments about last week’s installation and awards event. If anyone missed it, the video of Tony DeRosa’s keynote remarks are available and worth taking a few minutes. 

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti launched the activities for this night and proudly reported the news that he has completed 94 personal one-on-one interviews with Harmonizers as well as community board members for AH Inc. Joe thanked Terry Reynolds for his major effort to make the interview process run smoothly and easily for the members. Joepromises a summary report of his interview notes during our March 9th meeting.  Again he shared that to-a-man all the guys are planning to regroup when the Covid situation clears up and we can do something in person.  

 

Joe did share that he wanted to clarify to all members that they should not feel guilty about or under an obligation to attend the Zoom meetings.  He understands that for many, the Tues. night Zoom is just one more period of screen time for many; but for others, the Tues. night gathering is a gift of fellowship and comfort when we see each other and can talk and share. And so your attendance is a gift to a fellow Harmonizer!

 

Next, associate director Tony Colosimo conducted the warm up session to get the body and the voice ready for the night.  

 

That was followed by more work using Jamulus while singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  This week’s Jamulus quartet was SILVER ALERT who had worked extra time on this new song so that its introduction to the chorus was solid.  Thanks to Rick Savage, Mike Edison, Will Cox and Steve Murane. The quartet did a great job and members  on the call gave them a thumbs up of appreciation.

 

Joe stepped up to lead the work on “Never Fully Dressed” with the chorus.  He figures this song is pretty well learned and guys have it under their belt.  He confirmed his opinion when he asked guys to go onto chat and post a number from 1-10 if they have it learned (not memorized).  The results were about all 9.  Same number for “have it memorized.”  And then averages of about 8 for “know the dynamic plan” and for “have the chorus breath plan and a personal breath plan under my belt.”

 

He worked next on “Something’s Coming” in a similar fashion first, and then the chorus went into small groups to work on the same song.  Volunteers would sing a section of the song as requested by the monitor for the small group.  The other guys in the group would offer suggestions or comments.

 

This week there was not a special discussion topic but the chorus was invited to form into small groups based on an age range.  The guys over 70 (about ten of them) talked mostly about the challenges of getting their Covid vaccinations.

 

Guess speaker this week was Julian LaFlore, lead singer in the QUINN TONES.   He presented a report on “Engaging BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Youth in a Predominately White Hobby.” One of his major points was that singing groups should consider their music carefully when choosing material for their repertoire. They should consider “what is the song about,” “when was the song written,” “what does it celebrate,” and “what event(s) led to this song being created?” After his presentation, the mics were opened for a general discussion of the topic with lots of comments and questions from the chorus members.  Julian is a music education major at Towson University.  

 

In other news, the chapter has received word from Bob Wachter’s daughter that there will be a memorial service for Bob at Arlington Cemetery on July 21st at 12:45 pm at the Old Post Chapel.  More details to come, so mark your calendar. 

 

Our next  Harmonizer Tuesday meeting will be via Zoom again at 7 pm on March 2nd , 2021. 

 

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 72nd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)