Looking Back on the June 9, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the June 9, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

After a very successful retreat weekend, it was back to a Tuesday night rehearsal to apply the lessons learned by the ensembles on their contest songs.  Members responded with great attendance this week. 

 

Also the Harmonizers welcomed Stuart Zagnit who came from Broadway this evening to be the ‘storyteller’ during the contest package.  This week he worked with David McEachern, who stayed in town after the retreat, to help integrate Stuart into the set, along with Randall Eliason, who has learned the material as an understudy for the chapter performances. As reported earlier, Stuart was the understudy for that role on Broadway in the “Harmony” musical production. (He is best known for voicing Professor Oak in the Pokemon TV Show. He is currently appearing in “West Side Story.”) 

 

Artistic director of the AACC, Joe Cerutti, offered sincere thanks and appreciation to the many behind-the-scenes workers who have helped, and continue to help, the Harmonizers tell the story of the Comedian Harmonists. In that regard, he presented new chorus name tags to Stuart and to Alex Chen. 

 

Planning ahead, the chapter meeting for Tuesday, June 16, will be at Beth El Synagogue, 3830 Seminary Rd. Then, the traditional send-off performance for family, friends and patrons prior to the chorus going to an International contest, will be on Tuesday, June 23, at Beth El. Other important dates include the extra chorus rehearsals on June 18 and 25 at AlexRenew. 

 

Regarding the send-off on 6/23 – members are encouraged to invite family and friends.  The guests are welcome to come at the 7 pm start time to observe rehearsal, but the actual start of the send-off performances will begin at 8 pm. The send-off event will be at Beth El Synagogue. The AACC chorus will sing “I’m Still Standing” and “We Will Be One” for the audience at the send-off, who will also enjoy a guest appearance of GQ quartet with Samantha Tramacksinging bass.  

 

This week’s warm up session for the AACC chorus was started at 7 pm by Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices; then Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, led rehearsal for the chapter “Welcome Song.” 

 

Because the rehearsal was so busy this week, there was no ‘bandana check’ for the Class of 2026. The class includes 11 Harmonizers: Matt Darouse, Robby Della Bernarda, Cooper Schwartz, Jerry Candrilli, Devante Lucas, Billy Ermlick, Ben Raja, Owen Lyons, Josh Frakes, Logan Glauser, and Ben Hawker; and five Metro Voices: Susan Friel, Morgan Fabber, Laura Rutledge, Renee Tramack and Sarah Lott.  

 

Joe shared the news that Brad Jones has been named a finalist for a position on the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) Board of Directors.  The election to fill the position will be held at the board’s meeting in the days leading up to the contest and convention in St. Louis. Brad’s extensive leadership experience within BHS will make him a strong candidate. If elected, he will join a long list of distinguished chapter members who served on the BHS board over the years.

 

Katie Raimondo, a member of the Membership Triad, filled in for Jacob Broude to recognize guests this week including returnees Jonathon Meyer, Elizabeth Halford, and Carl Parkan; first timer Brian Roberts who found us online; and the two newest members: Dana Wooster and Mike Zelno. The AACC chorus sang the chapter welcome song for all the guests. 

 

Chapter secretary Cy Schuster presented membership renewal cards to the following members (the chorus did the traditional one-clap-per-year for each one): Carey Fagerstrom for 4 years, Matt Ambler for 4 years, Craig Kujawafor 23 years, Jerry Candrilli for 23 years, and Mike Fasano for 31 years. 

 

As a reminder, retreat attendees should make certain to turn in their $25 payment for the retreat to any member of the Culture Team – Becca Williams, Kellen Hertz and Matt Darouse. The team announced the following members were winners of nifty gift bags for their successful entry in the mixer contest at the retreat: Heidi Brown, Jeanne Hillinck, Catherine LaValley, Ben Rja, Jacob Broude, and Mireille Kouagou. 

 

Also the team acknowledged several members for their extra efforts to help carry-the-load for the retreat weekend: Cooper Schwartz, Devin Turner, Ashley Merryman, Ruth for the cookies, Jack Pitzer for the ice cream, Brigham Blackhurst for the board games, Chad Ross for helping with the truck, and the chapter at large for riser set up and take down and clean-up of the halls.  

 

Finally, the team has confirmed plans to show the “Harmonist” movie at AlexRenew at 7 pm on Friday, June 12. 

 

After the business session, the two ensembles worked on separate risers for contest preparation – one full set in the main room at AlexRenew and a smaller set of the old risers in the smaller room. 

 

For the Harmonizers, there is a call for speaking roles auditions for “I’m Just a Bill” – Tony is the contact for this. AndJoe is asking for some volunteers to work on the costumes for those characters/spokespersons. 

 

Another addition to the schedule is the outdoor performance at Nottoway Park in Vienna, VA, on August 20, as part of the Fairfax County Park Authority summer concert series. 

 

Registration for the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity on June 18-21 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD - can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com until the cutoff on June 11.  

 

To wrap up this week’s meeting, the ensembles met together to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing” directed by Kevin Mendez. The crowd at the afterglow enjoyed the pizza and the great summer evening weather which made it fun to gather on the newly upgraded deck!

 

LATE BREAKING NEWS: The Communications Triad announced today the launch of the new AACC website! The address is aaccsings.org.  The old URL Harmonizers.org will now redirect to that site, as will welovetosing.org. If you discover glitches or typos, let the members of the Triad know – Maggie McAlexander, Randall Eliason and Frank Shipp. Good job. 

 

As a follow up to that news, there is a need for a member to step up or be nominated to serve as Webmaster, plus a need to fill positions as Social Media Captains for each ensemble.  Responses welcome.

 

Thanks to Alex Chen for the following update on the social media efforts of the chapter to explain and promote the Harmonizer’s efforts to tell the Comedian Harmonists story.

 

The Harmonizers’ Story Keeps Getting Richer

With about a month to go before July 3, the Harmonizers’ social media campaign is well into its second half, and there is a lot of ground to catch up on.

Since the last update, the campaign has introduced all six of the men portraying the Comedian Harmonists on stage: Chad Ross as Harry Frommermann, Ben Watsky as Roman Cycowski, Matt Ambler as Erich Collin, Rob Santine as Ari Leschnikoff, Rob Stark as Robert Biberti, and Matt Darouse as Erwin Bootz. The Thursday posts have given each historical figure his own spotlight, covering biography, personality, and the role he played in the group’s rise and fall. Along the way, the campaign has also featured choreographer Cy Wood, a behind-the-scenes look at the arrangements from Steve Armstrong, and a conversation with historian David Wright on why this repertoire matters.

Alex Chen meets weekly with Joe and Randall to plan, adjust, and keep the campaign moving forward. Randall serves as editor, and Mike Kelly has done remarkable work on the video side. Worth noting that Rob Santine has been the man behind the camera as videographer, on top of everything he is doing on stage.

An exciting development: Broadway veteran Stuart Zagnit will be joining the Harmonizers in St. Louis. Stuart understudied the role of Older Roman Cycowski in Harmony on Broadway and rehearsed the part with the full company. On July 3, he finally gets to bring it to an audience.

The best way to follow the whole story as it unfolds is the campaign playlist on Facebook, a running collection of every post updated each week.

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗿𝘀' 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 “𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁. 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗶𝘀” https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ErpqXLPuh/

For those on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandriaharmonizers/

The Harmonizers’ Facebook page remains the primary home for the campaign: facebook.com/harmonizers

 

In other AACC chapter family news, congratulations to Josh and Costanza Frakes on the birth of their son, Leonardo, on June 6!

 

Congratulations to Turner Arndt and his bride, Jessica, who were married this past weekend!

Both Josh and Turner claimed a good excuse for missing the retreat weekend!  

 

Then sympathy to friends and family at the recent passing of Bill DePuy who died in his sleep this week at home.  He was 85, having joined the Harmonizers in 2002 where he sang lead before moving to Waynesboro a number of years ago.  There will be no service, but instead, a celebration at a large golf event in the weeks ahead with some 40 golfing friends who have joined him for 30 years at Shenvalee Golf Resort. Chapter members who wish to send his wife, Mimi, a note may use the home address: 147 Lake View Circle, Waynesboro VA 22980.

 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 78^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 June 5-7, 2036 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Retreat

 Looking Back on the June 5-7, 2036 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Retreat

This year’s retreat weekend was a great success, lots of fun, a terrific chance to get to know more members, and enough time to improve the contest packages for the trip to the BHS International contest in St. Louis.  

The chapter held this year’s retreat at AlexRenew in Alexandria and members had the challenge to travel into to the city on Friday night from 7-9 pm, then Saturday from 9 to 9 followed by an afterglow at Astro Beer Hall, and again on Sunday from 9 until noon. 

The chapter’s music team invited two out-of-town coaches for the weekend for each ensemble.  Darin Drown from Denver, CO – a retired music educator and gold medal quartet singer in STORM FRONT; and David McEachern, from Canada and one of the coach team members who developed the Harmonizer package, worked with the Harmonizers for the weekend. 

Patrick McAlexander from Houston, TX, certified BHS judge, director of the Space City Chorus, and tenor of PANDA RING quartet (and Maggie’s brother); and Blair Brown from California, a certified BHS judge, former BHS board of directors, and a member of DOUBLE DATE quartet, worked with Metro Voices for the weekend. 

Steve Tramack was on hand for the weekend too as an extra set of coaches eyes and ears. 

Many chapter members volunteered to help with the retreat operation such as: transportation and hosting for coaches, sound and riser set ups for two rehearsal spaces, clean up on Sunday, and hosting fellow chorus members to save them from long drives back and forth all weekend.  The chapter leadership triads all had a role, especially the Culture team (Becca Williams, Kellen Hertz and Matt Darpuse) who helped keep a water supply on the ready and provided donuts and coffee and such for Saturday breakfast, then dinner Saturday evening. There were ice cream treats on Friday night during break too. President Craig Kujawa was on hand to represent the chapter leadership team, as needed, all weekend. 

A unique aspect of the weekend was the display of Harmonizer memorabilia that has been removed from the chapter storage units recently.  It was all on display for members to review, pick through,  and take home any and all they wanted before it was to be all tossed.  Thanks for the many who helped haul in the boxes and cart loads up to the meeting space in AlexRenew and to Chad Ross for bringing it in the Harmo truck. (And then taking it to the disposal company.) 

Certainly, the music team was key to making the weekend run smoothly and to promote solid learning and member training. Starting with artistic director, Joe Cerutti, and Terry Reynolds who carried the load of admin for the weekend. Then the Harmonizer directors Tony Colosimo and Jason Lee, and Metro Voices directors Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander. Section leaders for both ensembles were also ready to help as needed and to make certain the suggestions and instructions from coaches get passed on to their singers in the next couple weeks.

Friday night started with a game – each members got a sheet with ten spaces where you were supposed get a signature from a member you talked with before things got started that matched the sentences – like ‘has two or more pets,’ ‘is left handed, or ‘has been in barbershop for more than 20 years.’

After the fun mixer, the AACC chorus gathered on the risers for warm up with Jason Lee.  Before serious rehearsal started, chapter leaders introduced our newly hired executive director, Nandita (Dita) Rao, then Joe directed the chapter “Welcome Song” for her. 

After introducing the coaches for the weekend, there was a bandana check! This included the newest addition to the Class of 2026, Ben Hawker, who joins the 10 Harmonizers: Matt Darouse, Robby Della Bernarda, Cooper Schwartz, Jerry Candrilli, Devante Lucas, Billy Ermlick, Ben Raja, Owen Lyons, Josh Frakes and Logan Glauser; and five Metro Voices: Susan Friel, Morgan Fabber, Laura Rutledge, Renee Tramack and Sarah Lott. Each of the class had their bandana on display! Thanks to Tyler Carpenter for creating the bandanas again this year!

Then it was work by each ensemble until break time - about 8:30 pm for the ice cream bars Jack Pitzer brought.  After the break, the singers changed risers for the rest of the evening. 

 

Saturday morning, there was coffee and lots of donuts and fruit for all to enjoy as they arrived for the 9 am start – Tonydid warm ups for the Harmonizers and Maggie did warm ups for Metro Voices. Work continued on the contest packages with the coaches.  

 

For the lunch break, members went out to eat on their own with suggested locations from the Culture Team as to nearby spots. Then it was back to rehearsals until about 6 pm and a longer break and relaxation period for the singers who had spent most of the day on the risers. At one point in the afternoon, Alex Chen was introduced and recognized for his work with social media to promote the Harmonizer package and the story of the Comedian Harmonists.  Also, there was the annual group photo taken of the Class of 2026 – in anticipation of their skit later that evening.

 

At 6 pm, the Harmonizers dressed in their contest attire (for a visual check by leadership) and then they sang their contest set (“Harmony” and “Stars in the Night”) for Metro Voices.  Then it was a switch for Metro Voices to sing their set (“Yes I Can” and “Me and the Sky”)  for the Harmonizers. The show time was followed by more rehearsal until dinner at 7:30 pm – brought in by the Culture Team – sandwiches and chips and fruit and cookies (plus a big tin of homemade cookies from Ruth, Brendan White’s fiancée). 

After dinner, everyone gathered for business and formal presentations.  Joe presented a 20-year membership card and lapel pin to Frank Fedarko. Then he presented a 50-year card and pin to Dave Welter with other 50-year members Rick Savage, Carl Kaufmann and Jack Pitzer looking on,. 

President Craig reminded members that they could still purchase an individual day pass for the BHS contest in St. Louis for any friends or family.  He also suggested it is a wise idea to confirm that members have a hotel reservation and a convention registration.   

Then Craig began the presentation of the chapter’s 2025 Distinguished Service Awards to members as nominated by a committee of Annie Ermlick, Bob Blair, Carey Fagerstrom, Chuck Miller, Jack Pitzer, Steve White and Mark Klostermeyer.  

Craig first announced a Meritorious Service Award chosen by the president to Sheryl Berlin for her work with Capital Force, Metro Voices, and M-AD.

New Note Award for Metro Voices was presented to Christine Pan and New Note for the Harmonizers was presented to Devin Turner – both members who jumped in and gave it their all right from the start of their membership. The Open Arms Award was presented to Jacob Broude for his major efforts to welcome and on-board the many new member of the two ensembles. The Family Spirit Award was presented to Annie Ermlick, Heidi Brown – plus recognizing Dave Ermlick andBilly Ermlick too – a family in action for both ensembles in the chapter. The chapter Outreach Award was presented to enthusiastic Ashley Merryman who has helped connect the chapter with many community groups and agencies. The 2025 Honor Award was presented to Brad Jones for his behind the scenes work in several areas but especially in his coordination of another international tour for the chapter in 2027. 

The Scott Werner Music Award for the Harmonizers was presented to Jason Lee for his work and leadership as an assistant director for the Harmonizers and his work to help new singers when they join the chapter. The Elaine Cooper Music Award for Metro Voices was presented to Carey Fagerstrom for her dedication to the music team of her ensemble.

The 2025 Legacy Award – the highest honor awarded to a member – was presented to Stan Quick to recognize his work to continue growth of leadership teams and to improve operational work with the chapter of several ensembles. 

Craig thanked past president Alan Wile for his help to order the plaques and awards to be presented each year. The it was time for the Class of 2026 skit!

Owen Lyons was their emcee and welcomed everyone to a talk show like Family Feud – the class invited members on the riser to answer questions as projected by Billy Ermlick on the big screen. Cooper Schwartz was interviewed by Owen at length, before each member of the class had to introduce themselves.

The Saturday night session ended with Becca Williams and the Culture team inviting everyone to the Afterglow at Astro Beer Hall = there was a good attendance and it was a fun evening. 

Sunday morning, folks gathered back at AlexRenew with coffee mugs in hand.  A few folks brought goodies to share with coffee.

Maggie did the warm up for the AACC chorus at 9 am and used a fun tag to get the bodies and voices ready. Tony led another review of the “Lifetime” tag. Then the coaches worked with the ensembles for another solid block of rehearsal time.

After the wrap up of rehearsal time, there were a few administrative announcements: a reminder for everyone to pay the $25 fee for the retreat – give payment to a Culture Team member; a thank you to that team for their work; and a plea for everyone to help with putting away risers, cleaning up the memorabilia, and generally making sure that everything was clean and left as we'd found it.

 

Artistic director Joe then saluted  the members involved in the operations transition:, all 24 people in the triads and the logistics team. He reminded the AACC chorus that his vision for the chapter is for our best work to be things we do in our community and not something that we take hundreds of miles away. And he led a chapter thank you and a round of applause for the directors, assistant directors, and coaches who worked to help us all weekend. 

 

Joe invited the coaches to say any closing words, and initially none of them had anything to say. He then asked Blair to conduct the “Lifetimes” tag, at which point she encouraged the members to appreciate the Harmony and Great Spirit there is within the chapter. 

“A lifetime’s not too long, not too long, to live as friends!” was the final tag for the weekend.

Members all pitched in to take down risers and various sound and furniture items used for the weekend to be stored at AlexRenew. 

Don Thompson summarized the weekend very well in his note to all via Slack: “we came away from the coaching weekend with a feeling of accomplishment and a gratitude for the coaches and deep respect for our musical leaders and the musicians we stand beside!”

(Thanks to Cooper Schwartz for helping report on the weekend.)

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 78^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 June 2, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the June 2, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

Again, it was another busy weekend for AACC singers with an Honor Flight sing on May 30 at 7 am at Reagan National Airport. Thanks to Christine Pan who filled in as the only baritone for that sing.

 

Then, on Sunday, May 31, crews gathered to work in the two chapter storage units with the goal to reduce the amount of stored materials to fit into just one unit.  This meant working in a unit where risers and uniforms and props were kept, and in a unit where chapter historical collections were kept.  The end point was to reduce the huge financial cost that have grown in recent years. Terry Reynolds helped coordinate this project with Chad Ross, Harmo truck driver; plus Craig Kujawa, Patricia Chow, Cooper Schwartz, Gary Cregan, Rob Barnovsky. Don Harrington, and Jack Pitzer.  Some items went to the HarmoHouse. Plus a large amount of discarded materials will be on display at the Retreat for any members to look over and take as much as they want – photos, trophies, CDs, tapes, shirts, and such. And a lot of “stuff” went to trash. 

 

Now back to the report for the Tuesday, June 2, rehearsal at AlexRenew. 

 

Planning ahead, the chapter meeting for Tuesday, June 9 will be at AlexRenew; for Tuesday, June 16 the meeting will be at Beth El Synagogue, 3830 Seminary Rd. Then, the traditional send-off performance for family, friends and patrons prior to the chorus going to an International contest, will be on Tuesday, June 23, at Beth El.

 

Other important dates include the chapter retreat June 5-7 at AlexRenew, and extra chorus rehearsals on June 18 and 25 at AlexRenew.  

 

The warm up session for the AACC chorus was started at 7 pm by Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers; then Jason Lee, assistant director of the Harmonizers, introduced a series of activities that will be used each week to help AACC singers  with emotion, involvement, ownership and understanding of the contest packages.

 

Tony also taught the traditional tag used at the chapter retreats every year – “A Lifetime’s Not Too Long to Live as Friends.” He asked those who knew it to help demonstrate it for the Class of 2026 singers.  Our chapter has been singing it to end our retreats for many years.

 

After that, there was a bandana check for the Class – two didn’t have their bandanas and so they had to answer three questions from their chorus friends on the risers – like ‘your favorite music as a kid,’ ‘food favorites,’ or ‘what did you do as a kid that your parents didn’t approve of?’ The Class of 2026 includes 10 Harmonizers: Matt Darouse, Robby Della Bernarda, Cooper Schwartz, Jerry Candrilli, Devante Lucas, Billy Ermlick, Ben Raja, Owen Lyons, Josh Frakes and Logan Glauser; and five Metro Voices: Susan Friel, Morgan Fabber, Laura Rutledge, Renee Tramack and Sarah Lott.  

 

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, reviewed the rehearsal schedule for the weeks leading up to the International. He explained the plan for the stop time of the two extra Thursday night rehearsals at AlexRenew as 9:30 pm on 6/18 and 6/25; and the end time for the next two Tuesday rehearsals (6/9 at AlexRenew and 6/16 at Beth El) will be 10 pm.  This helps folks plan ahead.  

 

Regarding the send-off on 6/23 – members are encouraged to invite family and friends.  The guests are welcome to come at the 7 pm start time to observe rehearsal, but the actual start of the send-off performances will begin at 8 pm.  The send-off event will be at Beth El Synagogue. The AACC chorus will sing “I’m Still Standing” and “We Will Be One” for the audience at the send-off, who will also enjoy a guest appearance of GQ quartet with Samantha Tramacksinging bass. 

 

The annual chorus retreat has been scheduled for June 5-7 at AlexRenew. Here is the proposed schedule for the retreat:

• Friday
• 7:00pm            Rehearsal Start
• 9:45pm            Rehearsal End
• Saturday
• 8:30am            Breakfast       
• 9:00am            Rehearsal
• 12:00pm          Lunch (on your own)
• 1:30pm            Rehearsal
• 4:30pm            Social Break
• 6:00pm            Choruses perform for each other
• 6;45pm            Rehearsal
• 7:30pm            Dinner / Awards / Class of 2026 skit / Party
• 9:30ish            Afterglow Astro Beer Hall, 4001 Campbell Ave., Arlington 22206
• Sunday (TBD - will either be 8:30 to 12:00 or 9:30 10 1:00)

Coaches for this year’s retreat will be David McEachern and Darin Drown for the Harmonizers, and Blair Brown and Patrick McAlexander for Metro Voices. As a reminder, Harmonizers will bring their all black contest attire to wear on Saturday night of the retreat when they sing the package for Metro Voices (and chapter team can check the fit and appearance of the choices that members made). They will also bring the annotation music for the contest package songs. Metro Voices will sing their package for the Harmonizers too. Everyone will for sure wear comfortable shoes and clothes, bring water or snacks as needed, meds, charger maybe. 

 

There will be a $25 fee collected from retreat attendees for foods and such. The Culture team will work to provide for members with food allergies during the weekend. 

 

Jacob Broude recognized guests this week including returnees Dana Wooster, Mike Zelno and Carl Parkan; first timers Jonathon Meyer and Sophia Self. Jason Lee, assistant director of the Harmonizers, led the AACC in singing the chapter welcome song for all the guests. 

 

After the business session, the two ensembles worked on separate risers for contest preparation – one full set in the main room at AlexRenew and a smaller set of the old risers in the smaller room. 

 

For the Harmonizers, there is a call for speaking roles auditions for “I’m Just a Bill” – Tony is the contact for this. AndJoe is asking for some volunteers to work on the costumes for those characters/spokespersons. 

 

Joe did report that Patrick Horn is on extended work travel but will be able to do the speaking part on the contest stage.  Thanks to Terry Reynolds for being his understudy. The rabi for the contest set is Stuart Zagnit who was the understudy for that role on Broadway in the “Harmony” musical production. (He is best known for voicing Professor Oak in the Pokemon TV Show.) Stuart will be at the June 9 rehearsal.  Joe and the chorus all thanked Randall Eliasonfor his dedication as the understudy and for his doing the speaking during all rehearsals. Finally, Joe thanked Turner Arndt for his efforts to provide learning materials for Harmonizers’ choreography in the midst of his wedding activities. 

 

Here are other announcements for the chapter:

 

Another addition to the schedule is the outdoor performance at Nottoway Park in Vienna, VA, on August 20, as part of the Fairfax County Park Authority summer concert series. 

 

Registration for the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity on June 18-21 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD - can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com until the cutoff on June 11.  

 

The chapter Culture Team invited anyone interested to gather for dinner at Sake Japanese Steakhouse and Bar at 5 pm before this week’s rehearsal. 

 

To wrap up this week’s meeting, the ensembles met together to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing” directed by Devante Lucas, one of the many music educators in the chorus.  The singers at the afterglow enjoyed the pizza and the great summer evening weather which made it fun to gather on the patio!

 

An important note was on Slack recently – there is a need for smaller sized tux outfits that members and former members might have stored at their homes.  The smaller sizes are needed for some of the Harmonists to wear for the contest package. Members who can offer some parts to that uniform should respond ASAP. 

 

LATE BREAKING NEWS: The Communications Triad announced today the launch of the new AACC website! The address is aaccsings.org.  The old URL Harmonizers.org will now redirect to that site, as will welovetosing.org. If you discover glitches or typos, let the members of the Triad know – Maggie McAlexander, Randall Eliason and Frank Shipp. Good job.

 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 78^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 May 26, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the May 26, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

AACC singers were busy over the Memorial Day weekend = the Harmonizer rehearsal for the contest package; the AACC chorus performance for TAPS; and a movie party for Metro Voices.

 

 On Saturday, May 23, there was a work shop and rehearsal for the Harmonizer contest package for those members who will be portraying the Comedian Harmonists and other spokespersons for the presentation.  

 

David McEachern, Steve Armstrong and Cy Wood worked as a team for this special coaching session at Fairlington Presbyterian Church only for the Harmonists and other characters until noon. Then from 1-5 pm, the rehearsal was open for all chorus members to observe, to offer inputs, and to get a feel for the total package. Artistic director Joe Ceruttialong with other team members Terry Reynolds, Jason Lee, Craig Kujawa and Lance Fisher, along with about a dozen other members, were there to provide support and musical backup for both “Harmony” and “Stars in the Night.” Alex Chen was on hand to help with the communication support and to continue his herculean efforts to help AACC tell the complete story of the contest package via social media.  

 

The men who sang and danced and moved all day as the Harmonists earned sincere appreciation and applause from their brother Harmonizers present. The Harmonists for the package are Chad Ross, Ben Watsky, Matt Ambler, Rob Santine, Matt Darouse and Rob Stark.  Michael Berkson, who is understudy for them all, plus Patrick Horn andRandall Eliason are characters for the set too. 

 

Then Saturday night, the AACC chorus was invited to be the closing act for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) Good Grief Camp gala held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City. Approximately 40 singers performed for a crowd of nearly 1,000 people. The appreciative crowd was bedazzled by the performance and gave multiple standing ovations throughout the performance, beginning after Matt Ambler’s solo in “Hey Jude.”

The audience was extremely special. Casual observers might have thought the multiple multi-starred military officers were the stars of the evening accompanied by their stylishly dressed wives. And they were treated well.  However, the true stars of the event were the hundreds of military family members from across the country and bases overseas who came together to share their grief over missing loved ones and buoy each other as they all walk the road of loss together. It is a humbling and motivating experience. 

Against this backdrop AACC performed a set of five songs to close the evening. Joe Cerutti directed and his animated invitation for the audience to react to us almost ended with a fall from the stage or into the front row (twice!) Surviving to continue his duties, he directed the chorus to exceptional heights. Songs included: Elton John’s ”I’m Still Standing;” “We Are One,” written by AACC member Zak Sandler and arranged by Lance Fisher; “Hey, Jude” with Matt Ambler’s solo; “Defying Gravity” with Christine Pan debuting as a soloist with Tony Colosimo joining her. The finale was “God Bless America” preceded by a quartet opening with Lance Fisher, Tony Colosimo, Jason Lee andTerry Reynolds leading into the chorus as an audience participation song. In fact, most of the songs ended up being audience participation as AACC really connected and the feedback loop of appreciation caused us to sing ever better. The final song saw the audience spring to their feet to applaud our performance. It is a safe comment that the singers had a very emotional experience and gave an excellent performance that was praised by our hosts and the senior military leaders present. The multiple reactions from attendees were exceptional in their praise. Truly an unforgettable evening.

The chorus wore their formal attire for the performance.  There were lots of carpools needed to get everyone there and especially to get parking. (Thanks to reporter E. J. Herold for this report from the TAPS performance.)

Finally, on Sunday, May 24, 2026, Annie and Dave Ermlick hosted a Metro Voices party at their house. The party was themed to match the musical “Come from Away,” which is the musical that “Me and the Sky” comes from (one of Metro Voices contest songs). The food was delicious and cocktails were aviation themed. After eating and socializing, everyone relaxed to watch the musical “Come from Away.” A great time was had by all.  (Thanks to reporter Heidi Brown for this report from the Metro Voices event.)

Now back to the report for the Tuesday, May 26, rehearsal at AlexRenew. 

 

As usual, things started at 7 pm. The warm up session for the Harmonizers was conducted by Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers; Jason Lee worked with the chorus on expressing emotion and facial animation – some time facing a partner – as well.  The warm up for Metro Voices was led by their director, Samantha Tramack.

 

Meetings for the following weeks will be also be at AlexRenew - June 2 and June 9.  Looking ahead - the traditional send-off performance for family, friends and patrons prior to the chorus going to an International contest will be Tuesday, June 23, at Beth El, 3830 Seminary Rd.

 

After the first half of the rehearsal, the two ensembles met together for a business session and  artistic director Joe Cerutti reported the good news that the chapter has hired an executive director (part time) to help with the operations of this busy chapter with three active ensembles. Here is some info about her background. 

Nandita (Dita) Rao has a varied career spanning ten years. She started her non-profit career in academic publishing at the Princeton University Press, where she was responsible for managing change related to software implementations.  She later moved to Deloitte Consulting where she spent four years as a tech strategy consultant. 

In grade school, she played the alto clarinet in NJ all-state band, sang in choirs, played tenor sax in the jazz band, and was the drum major of her high school marching band. 

At Princeton, where she earned her bachelor's degree in molecular biology, she also earned a certificate in Jazz vocal performance. She graduated last week from her Master's in Business Administration program at Yale, where she sang with choirs at the School of Music and performed her original music across New Haven. 

Her life mission is to unite communities through song and help everyone find self-expression through arts and comfort in community. She has served as a volunteer singing coach with the Trenton Youth Arts program and her proudest moments in life are seeing students, choir members, and audiences light up through music. She is very excited to move back to DC, to be reunited with her husband after two years of long distance and to get to know everyone at AACC.

Joe also was eager to share his pride and thanks for the terrific appearance at the TAPS banquet by the AACC chorus. Plus he led applause to recognize E.J. Harold for coordinating the show.

 

Joe welcomed some folks to this week’s meeting – Mick Stamps we have not seen in a while, Lew Klinge (original owner of the HarmoHouse) in town from his home in Ames, IA; Keith Harris, director of the Westchester County, NY, Chapter; and Greg Tepe who is retiring on Friday.  

 

Metro Voices worked more on their contest package on the risers the first half of the night.  Then the Harmonizers moved into the room with the risers and worked on choreography for their package as well continued important musical coaching with Steve Armstrong.

 

The AACC chorus has been invited to entertain at the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) Midwinter convention in Virginia Beach, VA, in February 2027. Singers should watch for the form on Slack to sign up for this special opportunity for Thursday, Feb. 4, 2027. 

 

Another addition to the schedule is the outdoor performance at Nottoway Park in Vienna, VA, on August 20, as part of the Fairfax County Park Authority summer concert series. 

 

The annual chorus retreat has been scheduled for June 5-7 at AlexRenew. Here is the proposed tentative schedule for the retreat:

• Friday
• 7:00pm            Rehearsal Start
• 9:45pm            Rehearsal End
• Saturday
• 8:30am            Breakfast       
• 9:00am            Rehearsal
• 12:00pm          Lunch (on your own)
• 1:30pm            Rehearsal
• 4:30pm            Social Break
• 6:00pm            Choruses perform for each other
• 6;45pm            Rehearsal
• 7:30pm            Dinner / Awards / Class of 2026 skit / Party
• 9:30ish            Afterglow at Astro
• Sunday (TBD - will either be 8:30 to 12:00 or 9:30 10 1:00)

Coaches for this year’s retreat will be David McEachern and David Drown for the Harmonizers, and Blair Brown and Patrick McAlexander for Metro Voices. As a reminder, Harmonizers will bring their all black contest attire to wear on Saturday night of the retreat when they sing the package for Metro Voices (and chapter team can check the fit and appearance of the choices that members made). Metro Voices will sing their package for the Harmonizers too.

 

Honor Flights bring in US Veterans to the nation’s capital to honor their service and take them to their memorials.  Choruses and other orgs are solicited to sing/cheer for them as they come off the plane.  On May 30 the AACC chorus will sing to greet three flights scheduled for 8, 9, and 10 am.  Last Call.  Members interested in participating and haven’t already indicated so on Groupanizer, please reach out to Terry Reynolds  directly by Wed. Call time is 7 am at the Airport security check point (more details closer to event). Uniform: AACC T-Shirt (pants of your choice). Songs:  “Armed Forces Medley,”  “God Bless America,” “This is My Country” (m15-end), “America the Beautiful,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” (m1-35). Folders with copies of the music will be provided.

Chapter leaders have begun to organize an exchange of volunteers with the Alexandria Singers chorus for ushers and ticket sales at shows, and similar tasks.  Stay tuned to sign up and help, 

 

Registration for the chapter’s Japan trip in 2027 is now open. During the trip, the AACC chorus will make a guest appearance at the Japan Barbershop Convention in Yokohama, August 22-23. Trip coordinator for AACC, Brad Jones,suggests sending any further travel questions to AACCJapan2027@gmail.com.

 

President Craig Kujawa suggested it was still possible for members to buy gift cards to use in paying for their hotel room at the contest in St. Louis – those card purchases earn cash for the chapter. Contact Craig if you have not purchased your cards. (Word from Steve White via Slack: RaiseRight has Marriott Bonvoy gift cards with an 8% rebate to the AACC - this special ends later this week back to 6%)

 

Registration for the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity on June 18-21 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD - can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com until the cutoff on June 11.  

 

Jacob Broude recognized guests this week including Ryan Hill, Dana Wooster and those Joe welcomed earlier.  Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices, led the AACC in singing the chapter welcome song for all the guests. 

 

Jacob also has launched the traditional new member class for 2026.  In the weeks ahead, the class will be seen at meetings and events – the 10 Harmonizers with blue bandanas are Matt Darouse, Robby Della Bernarda, Cooper Schwartz, Jerry Candrilli, Devante Lucas, Billy Ermlick, Ben Raja, Owen Lyons, Josh Frakes and Logan Glauser; the five Metro Voices with red bandanas are Susan Friel, Morgan Fabber, Laura Rutledge, Renee Tramack and Sarah Lott.  As often happens, Joe called for a bandana check with the Class of 2026 – everyone had one to display this week!

 

Terry Reynolds invited members to come help consolidate the two chapter storage units on Sunday morning – a plan to save money and to toss things.  Contact Terry if you can help and to find out the time and place to meet first. 

 

AACC chapter secretary, Cy Shuster, is presenting membership renewal cards at meetings.  Here is the list of current renewals: Charley Rothermel, 3 years; Jared Liscinsky, 3 years; Elisabeth Cosh, 4 years; Cadence Flaherty, 4 years;Patricia Chow, 4 years; Matt Ambler, 4 years; Frank Fedarko, 20 years (with pin); Craig Kujawa, 23 years; and Jerry Candrilli, 26 years.

 

Becca Williams, representing the Culture Triad, invited members to this month’s dinner before chapter meeting – this time at Sake, staring at 5 pm.

 

Culture team member, Kellen Hertz, also is organizing a showing of  “The Harmonists” – an English subtitled movie.  It will be at AlexRenew.  Check his message in Slack to say which nights you could attend.

 

To wrap up this week’s meeting, each ensemble had their own finale to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing.” Metro Voices finished early and then the Harmonizers ended with Keith Harris directing. There was a good crowd of singers at the HarmoHouse for lots of pizza and visiting outside on the patio!

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 78^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

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