Looking Back on the July 13th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

      Looking Back on the July 13^th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

This week’s Harmonizer in-person meeting was another busy one and about every space in the Scottish Rite Temple was put to use so we could respect the concept of clean air in the meeting spaces.

 

We started the session in the auditorium with warm ups conducted by Jason Lee, baritone section leader.  But the sections were in four corners of the space and Jason in the center. He challenged the men to keep their bodies lined up properly and had them do a lot of “bubbling” then ended the warm up singing  “We Sing Late at Night – Canned Goods.”

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti welcomed a few men we have not seen for a while – Kellen Hertz, Duncan Peacock, Chuck Powell, and Michael Schwartz.  This was our first week with a plan to invite up to 75 men to the meeting.  Other rules still apply such as having proof of a vaccination and having signed the chapter’s waiver form. Masks are optional. There was one guest – Tony Schepers in the tenor section.

 

After those short announcements, Joe worked with the chorus on “Somethings Comin”  still with the sections in each corner of the auditorium.

 

Then a series of sectionals followed by back to the whole chorus work sessions were held on “Remember Me,” “Help from My Friends,” and “ Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  After each sectional, the chorus worked with Joe.  He was pleased with the progress on the songs.

 

There were some announcements for the evening: visual coach Cy Wood will be in Alexandria next weekend to meet with the music team for script and show planning (Joe says if anyone is interested in helping with that aspect of the show, just let him or Terry Reynolds know.  You would be welcome.) Then Cy will stay in town to be with the chorus on Tuesday night as we prepare for a fall show on Sept. 11^th at Schlesinger.   

 

Mark calendars for the two events scheduled for the stage area in Fort Ward Park for a rehearsal on Tues. Aug. 10^th and then for a mini performance for friends and family on Tues. Aug. 24^th. This event may include some food and fellowship.  Fort Ward is at 4301 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria VA 22304. Communications director Matt Donigerpublished The Echo to announce the Aug. 24^th appearance to fans, relatives and patrons. 

 

During this week’s meeting, the music team released a timetable of when each show song should be memorized. It was also sent to all singers. Likewise a self-assessment was taken by the singers as to where they were on the process – some submitted it with their phones immediately and others filled out a paper version.

 

The interment of Bob Wachter at Arlington National Cemetery will be on July 21^st at 12:45 pm.  There is no uniform for this event.  The Harmonizers will sing “I'll Be Seeing You” and all barbershoppers present will sing “Irish Blessing.”

At Arlington Cemetery,  the entry gate will require photo identification from all in the vehicle. Tell the guard you are attending the services for Robert Wachter and they will guide you.

Guests should arrive by 12:10. Parking is available in the lot in front of the Old Post Chapel. The service at the Old Post Chapel will commence at 12:45. The military funeral honors with funeral escort will be provided from 1:30 to 2:00 o'clock. Thus this service will last 45 minutes or from 12:45 to 1:30. The gravesite services from 1:30 to 2:00.

President Stan Quick has reminded the chapter that we will be participating in the M-AD convention Oct. 1-2 in Lancaster, PA.  The Harmonizers will attend and sing and celebrate.  This is not a qualification for going to International next summer. Stan suggested that everyone who can go should make room reservations ASAP as well as purchase their tickets for the event on the district’s webpage – midatlanticdistrict.com. 

 

Since we are getting back to doing some performances, there is a need to get all singers a black camp shirt.  If you need one, contact Robyn Murane who is our chapter uniform wrangler at 909-528-6643 or RLMurane@aol.com. Don’t delay.  Also guys who have had a shirt for a while should check them to see if it is time to replace yours.

 

Chapter secretary David DesPortes presented membership renewal cards to Matt Riedl for 2 years; Frank Fedarkofor 19 years; and Frank Shipp for 19 years.

 

Shows chairman Doug White is asking for a volunteer to help manage the backstage refreshments for the performers at the fall show.  Talk to Doug. 

 

In other news, our friends Geri and Royal Geis are battling some health issues. They are with their daughter in CA and some cards to them would be appreciated. You can send the cards to their daughter Stacey Geis Isaacson, 45 Clark Drive, San Mateo, CA 94401. Bruce Roehm has more details for those who knew Geri and Royal.

 

The July 13^th evening ended with singing “God Bless America” and then with Joe’s invitation to the HarmoHouse for an afterglow at 3916 N. Stevens St. in Alexandria.  A good crowd of guys were there to enjoy cold refreshments,, snacks and pizza.  There was a lot of tag singing too and plenty of time for fun stories and visiting. 

 

Our next  Harmonizer Tuesday meeting will be a hybrid session beginning at 7 pm on July 20^th, 2021 at SRT following guidelines prescribed by the chapter leadership and per invitation. 

 

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 73^rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

Looking Back on the July 6th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

      Looking Back on the July 6^th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

This week’s Harmonizers in-person meeting was a busy one and about every space in the Scottish Rite Temple was put to use (especially since the building owners were having some early meetings there too).

 

We were set to start warm ups at 6:30 this week so we could do a live interview with a local media group from 7-7:30. Therefore, we had our warm up session for this week outside in the shade on the east side of the building with associate director Tony Colosimo. When that session ended everyone came into the auditorium to work with artistic director Joe Cerutti  to run through songs to be sung during the interview. Guys wore the black camp shirts for this video shoot.

 

The attendees were limited to those invited from among those who said they could attend and are vaccinated.  Other members were included via Zoom for parts of the meeting when that was possible.  About 10 were on the Zoom call.

 

At 7 we began a live connection and interview with Z-TV – the video channel for Zebra Press who also deliver 30,000 papers to front door steps in Alexandria. Joe was the main speaker and he shared our joy in singing again after the pandemic, and our desire to bring music into the lives of those in our community. The chorus sang “Never Fully Dressed,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  The wrap up of the interview was the virtual rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever” that the chapter made with the Masters of Harmony. 

 

At 7:30 our Zoom meeting and rehearsal continued as usual.  We moved to the cafeteria where Joe updated the group on a few important matters including a reminder for guys to take the end-of-the-month survey from the music team.

 

He reminded everyone to mark their calendars for the two events scheduled for the stage area in Fort Ward Park for a rehearsal on Tues. Aug. 10^th and then for a mini performance for friends and family on Tues. Aug. 24^th. This event may include some food and fellowship.  Fort Ward is at 4301 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria VA 22304.

 

Joe reported details that are known at this time for the interment of Bob Wachter at Arlington National Cemetery on July 21^st at 12:45 pm.  The Harmonizers will sing “I’ll Be Seeing You” (Our 1995 gold medal ballad.). The Fairfax Chapter will sing a song as will the Harmony Heritage Singers.  All barbershoppers will join together to sing “Irish Blessing.” All Harmonizer members – current and former – are welcome to sing.  At some point there may be a need for a count – stay tuned.

 

The chapter is still planning for a fall show on Sept. 11^th at Schlesinger.  In preparation for that, our visual coach, Cy Wood, will be with us on July 20^th and August 31^st for some staging and showmanship help for our songs. 

 

 

During the business session of this week’s meeting, president Stan Quick reminded the chapter that we will be participating in the M-AD convention Oct. 1-2 in Lancaster, PA.  The Harmonizers will attend and sing and celebrate.  This is not a qualification for going to International next summer. Stan suggested that everyone who can go should make room reservations ASAP – refunds can be obtained if plans change. (Some guys shared that you might have to look for the second hotel as the first one is full already.)

 

Then it was back to work singing and working on “Something’s Comin” with Joe.  He encouraged singers not to be embarrassed if they needed to “listen and learn” a couple times before they sang out.  It was great to have Scott Beach with us for the first time since Covid!

 

Joe also worked with the chorus on the new song “Remember Me” – which everyone agreed reminds them of “Lullaby” we sang a few years ago.

 

Joe and Tony and the section leaders worked thru the evening on our new music – some run- throughs, some work on specific spots such as for rhythm.  Joe had the singers experiment on adding color to their singing and he brought back into focus an adage we lived by a few years ago – Champions are made at the end of phrases!

 

In other news, lots of Harmonizers were spotted during the virtual International convention over the weekend.  Several current members and former members were attendees during the weekend, and some of our newer members made appearances on the chorus contest stage. Matt Riedl sang with the SmorgasChorus from KS; Michael Berkson sang with the Voices of Gotham and in the Gotham Mixed chorus. It was great to see Jack Stevens on screen with The Marcsmen and Kevin Kaiser with the Sound of the Rockies.   The Northwest Sound chorus, who made the virtual holiday show with us, sang a funny piece about being the first chorus to sing and thus they were champions for at least seven minutes!  Harmonic Collective, the chorus we sang with at the Seneca Land weekend had solo spots in their package by Rick Taylor, Sean Devine Joe Connelly. 

 

In the quartet contest on Friday, it was terrific to see Rick Wagner singing bass with VOCAL MIXOLOGY representing the Honolulu, HI, Chapter. There were no scores given for chorus or quartet contests – just ratings.) 

 

Great to see Rasmus Krigstrom on a major show during the weekend too with RINGMASTERS as well as our own Tessa Walker and her quartet, HOT PURSUIT, and Cy Wood with his quartet, HALF AND HALF singing during the convention.

 

Great job to the chapter team who prepared the virtual chorus  message of us singing “Stars and Stripes Forever” with the Masters of Harmony. It was used at the convention too.  And then our chapter leaders sent it to our patrons and to our membership list. (YeEd got a message from one of my ticket customers thanking me for a terrific surprise on the 4^th!)

 

The July 6^th evening ended with a Joe’s invitation to the HarmoHouse for an afterglow at 3916 N. Stevens St. in Alexandria. 

 

Our next  Harmonizer Tuesday meeting will be a hybrid session beginning at 7 pm on July 13^th, 2021 at SRT following guidelines prescribed by the chapter leadership and per invitation. 

 

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 73^rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)