Looking Back on the April 28, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 28, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

Wow, the chapter achieved its goal of raising $30,000 in donations for the 2026 Spring2ACTion (S2A) project last week. The chapter participated in the City of Alexandria organized project for non-profits in the community on Wed. April 22. The chapter went over the $30.000 mark mid-morning on Friday, April 24.  Thanks to the major donors including significant matching gifts to prompt donations. Great work by all AACC members to “make the ask” and succeed. This year’s S2A had some challenges as compared to previous years, but leaders made it work. The S2A program awarded the chapter $500 for having the most donors for the 3-4 pm “power hour.” Thanks to Ken Rub for taking the lead this year along with Randall Eliason to coordinate the chapter efforts. 

 

At this week’s chapter meeting, Ken thanked all members for their efforts to achieve the goal.  He called on Craig Kujawa to be recognized for his efforts to get donors from his many contacts and Craig took a couple minutes to explain how he made it happen.  Ken also announced the winners of the competition among AACC chorus sections for adding the most donors: basses placed third, leads and baritones tied for second place, and tenors placed first. 

 

The chapter’s Culture Leadership Triad (Becca Williams, Kellen Hertz and Matt Darouse) organized a social event to celebrate on Wed. April 22, after the full day of watching donations roll in. Dana Richardson hosted an open house at her home in the Fort Hunt area, and about 25 members attended – half from the Harmonizers and half from Metro Voices.  Attendees had to have created a S2A page to attend and if you didn’t have one, Becca helped them create one. According to Kellen, there were games and contests including a pie-in-the-face from Mireille Kouagou to good sport Joe Cerutti. The team brought goodies and ended the evening with some fun sing-a-long time with Christine Panproviding piano accompaniment. 

 

AACC singers continued their hard work on music and choreography this week for contest and shows. To kick things off, Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, led the warm up session for all.  He continued the work on “A Place on the Risers for You,” the song used when a person is leaving the AACC. To help members get “into the song.” Tony had the singers “connect with someone around them on the risers.”

 

A riser crew set up things for the 7 pm start and after the warm up session, Metro Voices used the risers and the Harmonizers went to the meeting room at AlexRenew. Patricia Chow reports that Metro Voices spent their time on the risers working on integrating choreography with singing technique for “Me and the Sky” with particular attention paid on keeping a solid tempo. Next they rehearsed in duet sectionals (leads and tenors, basses and baris) to work on “Yes I Can.” They ended their rehearsal with runs of their contest set.

 

The Harmonizer rehearsal started with “I’m Just a Bill,” then moved to “Stars in the Night,” and then moved to choreography for “Harmony” – this choreo rehearsal was divided into groups based on the singers’ self-assessment as to readiness. The Harmonists for the set worked separately on choreography. 

 

Regarding the work on choreography for the package, Harmonizers should work to get up to snuff in that area. They are required to video themselves by May 9. 

 

Mid-evening, the two ensembles met together on the risers for a brief business session. As a reminder, chapter meetings the next two weeks will be at AlexRenew.  

 

Matt Darouse, representing the Culture Leadership Triad, announced their team’s invitation for a pre-glow event for singers on the second Tuesday of the month – 6pm gathering at Lost Boy Cider, 319 Hooffs Run Dr., Alexandria.  Bring your own food from nearby food spots.

 

He also announced a new plan to have goodies for the third Tuesday night of the month chapter meeting – sign up for bringing them will be in Slack.

 

A major show opportunity has come to the chapter for Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  It will be to sing at a major evening banquet event for  the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). There have been enough singers that signed up, but everyone who is available should sign up via Groupanizer. The combined AACC chorus will fill this 20 minute time slot.  (The Harmonizers sang for the group in 2020.)

 

At a recent meeting, Sheryl Berlin promoted registration/attendance at Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity organized by the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD). It will be June 18-21 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD.  Individual singers are encouraged to attend too, maybe take voice lessons, or attend as a quartet with three other singers. Registration can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com. 

 

Registration for the chapter’s Japan trip in 2027 is now open. Send any questions to AACCJapan2027@gmail.com.

 

Here is a reminder of the two Honor Flight dates the chapter will be singing at this spring – May 16, two flights; and May 30, three flights. Call time both dates will be 7 am at Reagan National Airport. Repertoire songs will be sung in the existing men’s key. Folders of the music will be provided. Uniform will be the AACC t-shirt or a plain black t-shirt, and slacks. Singers need to update their availability on Groupanizer.

 

Tyler Carpenter recognized the newest AACC member, Sarah Lott.  Returning guest this week was Dana Wooster.First time gust this week was Elizabeth Halford. Member Geoff Berman was in the hall this week too.  Terry Reynolds led the AACC in singing the chapter welcome song for all the guests. 

 

A breakout for new member orientation was held at this time – Terry taught the session about barbershop contests. 

 

On Memorial Day Saturday, the main coaches for the Harmonizer contest set will be here to coach the “Harmonists” and other characters for the Harmonizer’s contest package. The morning session is closed to just those players. Then, later - although it is not a mandatory event - chorus members are encouraged to attend mid-afternoon to observe, give feedback and understand the vision. 

 

After the announcements, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices moved back into separate rehearsal rooms to continue their rehearsal work. Tony worked with Turner Arndt to review/drill choreography with the Harmonizers on the risers. Props were used too. Tony thanked Randall Eliason for providing the narration for the set, and Turner for helping singers perform the plan.  

 

To wrap up the evening, the ensembles met back together for any final announcements, a count for pizza slices for the afterglow at the Harmo House, and then the usual 50/50 drawing before “Keep the Whole World Singing.”

 

Members and fans of the Harmonizers will appreciate this “behind-the-scenes” look at the efforts the chapter is taking to explain and bring to everyone’s attention, the story of the Comedian Harmonists - the message of the chorus contest package this year.  Thanks to Alex Chen for explaining the work that has gone on so far to promote and explain the package. 

The Harmonizers Take the Campaign Online

If you have been following the Harmonizers' preparations for the BHS International Convention in St. Louis, you already know the story behind this year's contest set. But this year, the chorus is doing something a little different in the weeks leading up to July 3. They are bringing that story to a wider audience through a structured social media campaign running through the end of the season.

The campaign launched in early April and runs three posts a week on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube -- Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The Tuesday posts follow the Harmonizers' rehearsal journey. The Thursday posts tell the history of the Comedian Harmonists’, the German close-harmony ensemble whose story inspired the “Harmony” musical on Broadway and the set itself. The Sunday posts share curated content from outside sources -- archival footage, podcast episodes, and clips from the show -- to give audiences the full picture.

Joe Cerutti, artistic director of the AACC and director of the Harmonizers, is the creative force behind the effort. The campaign was his idea, born out of his conviction that the Comedian Harmonists' story deserves to be known by every close-harmony singer in the world -- and that the BHS International Convention audience is exactly the right place to start. Randall Eliason has been reviewing and approving every post before it goes live.

The campaign is a volunteer effort. Alex Chen, a former marketing consultant and friend of the organization, is leading the content strategy and drafting. Mike Kelly is handling video production and editing. Bruce Roehm, Calvin Schnure, Noah Van Gilder, Joe, and Randall are helping distribute the posts to Facebook communities across the barbershop, Broadway, and music history worlds.

A highlight so far is a video Joe recorded sharing the origin story of the set -- the Broadway show he almost didn't see, the library in New York City, and the moment that convinced him the barbershop world needed to know this story. It is worth ten minutes of your time.

Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1478803983908216

The Harmonizers are also building out their YouTube channel, where the full videos from Joe, Steve Armstrong, and the singers portraying each of the six Comedian Harmonists will live.

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSKQpZ7jzmDR6soM7QK16A

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

The Harmonizers' Facebook page is the primary home for the campaign. Follow along at facebook.com/harmonizers.

Until next time – editorjack!

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

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

 

 

 

Looking Back on the April 21, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 21, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

A good number of AACC singers were on hand for this week to work on music for contest and shows. To kick things off, Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, led the warm up session for all.  He continued the work on “A Place on the Risers for You,” the song used when a person is leaving the AACC. He had the singers get into sections on the risers and then each section sang the song with words whole the other three sections hummed.

 

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, congratulated FANTASTIC 4 for their success at the recent Northern Division contest.  

 

He reminded everyone that for the next three weeks, the chapter meetings will be at AlexRenew.  Chad Rosscoordinated the take down and movement of risers to our truck this week, so they can be used for those meetings. 

 

A major show opportunity has come to the chapter for Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  It will be to sing at a major banquet event for  the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Sign up response will be conducted via Groupanizer to confirm there are enough singers available. The combined AACC chorus will fill this 20 minute time slot.  (The Harmonizers sang for the group in 2020.)

 

To get started singing, Samantha Tramack, director of Metro Voices, worked with the AACC chorus on one of the newer songs in the repertoire, “We Will Be One.”

 

There was a brief business meeting period: Sheryl Berlin promoted registration/attendance at Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity organized by the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD). It will be June 18-21 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD.  A number of AACC musical leaders will help staff and teach at the event; plus typically, several of our quartets that are headed to the International contest in July will go to HCE for one last chance to tighten their performances with help from coaches at HCE. Individual singers are encouraged to attend too, maybe take voice lessons, or attend as a quartet with three other singers. Registration can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com. 

 

Ken Rub talked about Spring-2-ACTion, our Spring Giving Awareness Event. Our goal as an organization is $30,000. There is a power hour from 3-4 pm on Wednesday, April 22 – the chapter concentrates on this hour to make donations – for example, there are prizes for the non-profit that turns in the most donations from the most different email addresses.

 

Cy Schuster gave out membership renewal cards to Jason Lee for 24 years and Jerry Candrilli for 25 years.  

 

Jacob Broude introduced three returning guests, Sarah Lott, Dana Wooster and Mike Zelno. First time guests wereEllie Gonzalez and Jacob Bankston in town for a conference. He is director of the Austin, TX, barbershop chapter.

 

The CHEF’S KISS quartet of college students from MD came to visit again and sang “Georgia On My Mind” for the chapter. Quartet members are John Mark Magpantay, Isaac Teberen, Danny Amednite and Ivan Diehl. 

 

Maggie McAlexander lead the AACC in singing the chapter welcome song for all the guests. 

 

On Memorial Day Saturday, the main coaches for the Harmonizer contest set will be here to coach the “Harmonists” and other characters for the Harmonizer’s contest package. The morning session is closed to just those players. Then, later - although it is not a mandatory event - chorus members are encouraged to attend mid-afternoon to observe, give feedback and understand the vision. 

 

Regarding the work on choreography for the package, Harmonizers should work to get up to snuff in that area. They are required to video themselves by May 9^th and upload it to Harmonizer recordings. Since videos are such large files, chapter leaders will work out a system, maybe Dropbox, to share the video. Also all members may “like and share” videos about the contest set on social media. The full mix and script for the contest set is posted on Slack under Harmo Performing Chorus. 

 

After announcements, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices moved into separate rehearsal rooms. Both ensembles posted riser charts for members to note in lining up for rehearsal this week. 

 

Joe with help from Turner Arndt coached and reviewed/drilled choreography with the Harmonizers for “Harmony.” When the two ensembles switched rooms, they worked on “Stars in the Night.” To round out the singing, they worked more on the show song, “I’m Just a Bill.” 

 

Annie Ermlick reported that Metro Voices worked on their contest song “Yes I Can” starting in sections with Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander coaching and helping with corrections and choreography. After switching rooms, this ensemble worked on their other contest song, “Me and the Sky.”  

 

To wrap up the evening, the ensembles met back on the risers for any final announcements, a count for pizza slices for the afterglow at the Harmo House, and then the usual 50/50 drawing before “Keep the Whole World Singing.”

Until next time – editorjack!

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

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

 

 

 

Looking Back on the April 14, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting .

 Looking Back on the April 14, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

(Dave Ermlick prepared this week’s report because Jack Pitzer was celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary with his family. Congratulations.)

 

Joe Cerutti led the warm-ups for the AACC singers at AlexRenew in Old Towne Alexandria. He moved on to focus on A Place on the Risers for You, the song used when a person is leaving the AACC. Great news - we made it all the way through! We will use this song for warm-ups the next few weeks and then put it aside.

 

Joe announced two Honors Flights on May 16^th and May 30^th. Please sign up on Groupanizer.

Next week’s rehearsal is at Fairlington Presbyterian, then back at Alex Renew.

 

Joe and Ken Rub talked about Spring-2-ACTion, our Spring Giving Awareness Event. Our goal as an organization is $20,000 in donations, and members are encouraged to set their own goals. As we have done in the past, there is a competition between the voice parts for “a new car, a trip to Hawaii, or bragging rights- actual prize to be determined later.” Ken talked about how to set up your Giving Page, and he actually role-played how to ask friends and relatives to donate. 

 

Jacob Broude introduced two returning guests, Sarah Lott and Brie Hebron.

 

Cy Schuster gave out membership renewal cards to Rob Santini (3 yrs.), Calvin Schnure (31 yrs.), and Dean Rust (46 yrs.). There was also word via email that Scott Werner, former chorus director and retired now in FL, received his 63-year card recently at his new chapter. 

 

On Memorial Day Saturday, the main coaches for the Harmonizer contest set, Steve Armstrong and Cy Wood, will be here to coach the “Harmonists” and other characters for the Harmonizer’s contest package. The morning session is closed to just those players. Then, later - although it is not a mandatory event - chorus members are encouraged to attend mid-afternoon to observe, give feedback and understand the vision. More details to come. 

 

Regarding the work on choreography for the package, Harmonizers should work to get up to snuff in that area. They are required to video themselves by May 9^th and upload it to Harmonizer recordings. Since videos are such large files, chapter leaders will work out a system, maybe Dropbox, to share the video. Also all members may “like and share” videos about the contest set on social media. The full mix and script for the contest set is posted on Slack under Harmo Performing Chorus. 

 

After announcements, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices moved into separate rehearsal rooms. Starting in the non-riser room, the Harmonizers focused on the music for Stars in the Night, We Will Be One, and I’m Just a Bill. After switching to the riser room, they focused on the choreography for Harmony. Turner Arndt coached some rough areas. Next week, they will run the entire song with choreography.

 

Annie Ermlick reported that Metro Voices worked on their songs with Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander coaching and helping with corrections and choreography. They also helped the ensemble be sure to incorporate the changes offered during their recent coaching session with Peter Cunningham. Part of their evening included sectional work on their songs. 

 

To wrap up the evening, the usual 50/50 drawing was held.  Patrick Horne won this week and led the AACC singers in Keep the Whole World Singing.

There were a couple AACC members singing at the Mid-Atlantic District (M-AD) Northern Division contest in NJ, April 17-18. FANTATIC 4 with Heidi Brown as lead and Paul Grimes as baritone sang in the finals round and placed seventh. Other AACC members and chapter friends were also working at the convention – Maggie McAlexander was a music judge, coach Peter Cunningham was a singing judge and former member Sean Devine was a performance judge.  Ken Rub and the stage crew worked all weekend to keep the contest sessions running smoothly along with help from Mike Fasano, who is M-AD executive vice president. Julian LeFlore directed a Dream Chorus for 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 77^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

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

 

 

 

Looking Back on the April 7, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 7, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

This week’s chapter meeting was an important work session for both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices who had a visiting coach, Peter Cunningham.  Peter is from Texas, is a certified singing judge, sang in a quartet to win the Collegiate gold medal in 2014, and is on the music faculty of Kilgore College.  He  worked with Metro Voices on their contest package.

To kick off the singing this week, director of Metro Voices, Samantha Tramack, introduced Peter to the whole chapter as this week’s warm-up leader.

Again the riser crew was appreciative that the risers are now stored in the upper hall of Fairlington Presbyterian. Risers were set up in the hall at the church and that is where Metro Voices worked until 10.  The Harmonizers worked in the lower hall until 9:30.

Following warm ups, artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed everyone and confirmed his plan to resume his duties as director of the Harmonizes as of March 31. He did acknowledge there is still more to do in launching a revised operations system for AACC which includes hiring an executive director to manage the operations aspects of the chapter. He offered to answer any questions about that staff position explaining that a team of Craig Kujawa, Stan Quick, Chuck Miller and Terry Reynolds will help with the transition of duties to the executive director. 

Finally, Joe thanked associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, for his extra work with the Harmonizers during the last six months, having managed the rehearsals, and leadership of music leaning for the holiday show and the upcoming contest package.

Assistant Harmonizer director, Terry Reynolds, opened the business meeting to confirm next week’s meeting will be at AlexRenew.

Becca Williams represented the Culture Triad  and alerted members to be watching for details about a new pre-glow event once a month prior to the chapter meeting.  Early for food and drink in time to get to chapter meeting by 7 pm. 

Ken Rub recently started things off with early details about a major chapter fundraiser and fun event on Spring-to-ACTion, Wed. April 22.  It will be part of the city-wide fundraising efforts for non-profits in Alexandria. Ken will organize a challenge contest between the four music sections of the chorus – to see which one can bring in the most for AACC; and he promises prizes! He also suggested the need for matching gifts to stimulate giving – any members willing to do that should contact Ken.

There will be a summer concert on Aug. 20 at a Fairfax County Park. Watch for details in Groupanizer. 

Two Honors Flight dates are on the chapter calendar this spring – May 16 and May 30 – both at Reagan National Airport. May 16 has two flights (approximately 7-10 am); May 30 has three flights (approximately from 7-11 am). Both dates, call time for singers will be 7 am. Stay tuned for details about proper sign ups for security. Uniform will be the AACC t-shirt. Folders with copies of the music will be provided for the patriotic songs likely to be sung. 

Joe reported on the media campaign recently launched  to socialize the background story of the Harmonizer contest package and explaining the important message of the close harmony singers, Comedic Harmonizers to others in the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The campaign is being conducted by Alex Chen, a friend of the chapter, and will also be shared with AACC supporters so they can help us tell the important story of the Harmonists.  AACC members are asked to help spread the work via their social media links to expand the awareness of this important music history story. The campaign will also promote the AACC ensembles participation at the BHS contest in July in St. Louis.

Chapter secretary, Cy Shuster, presented membership renewals to the following: Mary Cooper for 4 years; Maggie McAlexander for 12 years; Tyler Carpenter for 14 years, and Brad Jones for 34 years. He also recognized Don Thompson for bringing in two new members. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, announced that a series of orientation sessions for the many recent new members will start next week . He presented a new member pin to Renee Tramack. Two returning guests this week were Sarah Lott and Dana Wooster. First time guest was Mike Zelno. Assistant director of Metro Voices, Maggie McAlexander, led the chapter “Welcome Song.”

There are a couple quartets with AACC members listed as singing at the Northern Division contest in NJ, April 17-18: FANTATIC 4 with Heidi Brown as lead and Paul Grimes as baritone; and HEART AND SOUL with Bob Mattes. 

Following the business meeting, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices worked the rest of the night on their music. The Harmonizers worked a chunk of time on the visual plan for “Harmony” with Turner Arndt helping polish the finer details. Singers will be expected to submit a self-recoded video of their performance on May 9. Joe spoke more about the social media campaign regarding the contest package and the Comedic Harmonists. After work on “Harmony” the ensemble sang through “Stars in the Night” before digging into some fixits and coaching from Joe. Randall Eliasondid the narration for the contest package as part of the rehearsal. Then he working with them on “I’m Just a Bill: from “Schoolhouse Rock” that was arranged by Lance Fisher.

Annie Ermlick took notes from the Metro Voices session with their coach.  His focus for the evening was vocal production and vocal technique – with particular attention to vowel production, unit vowel consistency and matching, synchronization, vocal health, ease, breathing management, and timbre. Peter incorporated movement exercises designed to marry what the ensemble was doing vocally and musically with their bodies – accessing freedom from multiple entry points simultaneously: breath, tongue, body position, and physical gesture.

Each ensemble had their own closing sing of “Keep the Whole World Singing.” There was an afterglow at HarmoHouse. 

Until next time – editorjack!

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

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

 

 

 

Looking Back on the March 31, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the March 31, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

(Thanks to E.J. Herold for taking tones this week for editorjack.)

Spring weather made it easy for singers to come out for the March 31 meeting for AACC back at Fairlington Presbyterian, in Alexandria. A riser crew got them all set up from the storage place now in the upper hall of the church, and assistant director of Metro voices, Maggie McAlexander, started the warm ups. Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, continued the warm ups using “A Place on the Risers.”

Following warm ups, artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed everyone and gave a special greeting to a returning Harmonizer, Geoff Berman, visiting for the evening. Also visiting this week was Rob Korsan, who had not been at a rehearsal (by his own admission ) in a decade or so. Great to have them back to sing with us. Joe also shared news fromDick Dangel’s family that Dick has been enrolled in a memory care unit recently.

Joe reminded singers that we are still engaged in the transition to the new chorus structure with a note that he recognizes that change needs to be deliberate and that members need coaching. He then introduced long-time chapter supporter, Kathy Kauffmann, as the evening’s facilitator.  She is Karl’s wife of 59 years and attends most chapter meetings. She is a facilitator of organizational change.  Her exercise helped the members get “into” the work to make change and recognize the directions it will take the AACC chapter.  

Assistant Harmonizer director, Terry Reynolds, opened the business meeting.  Ken Rub started things off with the news and early details about a major chapter fundraiser and fun event on Spring-to-ACTion, Wed. April 22.  It will be part of the city-wide fundraising efforts for non-profits in Alexandria. Ken will organize a challenge contest between the four music sections of the chorus – to see which one can bring in the most for AACC; and he promises prizes! He also suggested the need for matching gifts to stimulate giving – any members willing to do that should contact Ken.

Terry announced there will be a summer concert on Aug. 20 at a Fairfax County Park. Watch for details in Groupanizer.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, asked for contacts in the chapter to help reach out to  collegiate singing groups. He presented a new member pin to Morgan Fabber. Two new guests this week were Mary Laborie and Dana Wooster. 

Following the business meeting, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices divided their time on the risers until wrap up with a 50-50 drawing. Turner Arndt, who was celebrating his birthday this week, directed “Keep the Whole World Singing.”

Until next time – editorjack!

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

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

 

 

 

Looking Back on the March 24, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting Plus DCPS Harmony Festival, and CF Showcase

 Looking Back on the March 24, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting Plus DCPS Harmony Festival, and CF Showcase

After a busy and full weekend of barbershop events, there was good attendance for the March 24 meeting for AACC at Fairlington Presbyterian Church, in Alexandria. Both ensembles had lots of work to recapture the lessons learned last week and to prepare for the contest in July. 

This Looking Back report includes coverage of the DCPS Harmony one-day festival on March 19; and coverage of the end-of-season showcase for Capital Force on Sunday, March 22.  A separate Looking Back report covering the weekend Mid-Atlantic District (M-AD) division contests from Towson was published earlier.  

Jason Lee, assistant director of the Harmonizers, kicked off the singing for the week with a great warm up session for the combined ensembles and the visiting Georgetown Chimes ensemble from Georgetown U.  Associate director, Tony Colosimo, continued vocal warm up exercises for the singers. 

Terry Reynolds presided over this week’s business session. The chapter meetings on March 31 and April 7 will be at Fairlington Presbyterian Church (FPC). The meeting on April 14 will be back at AlexRenew. 

Brad Jones reported that he has created a new Slack channel for the AACC Japan trip in 2027 and he shared that participants could register now.  He also shared some thoughts about payment plan options.

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, offered praise and thanks to chapter members, music team leaders, and singers all for their support of the DCPS Harmony festival and the Capital Force Showcase to end their concert season that were held recently.  (See reports below.)   He also saluted all of the quartets that participated and represented the chapter in the division contest this past weekend. Official announcement from the Southern Division contest was that INSTAGRAMPS quartet with Steve White was declared Southern Division Senior Quartet Champ. Regarding the contest results, Joe joked that it was “over-run” by AACC quartets!  He also predicted that some more of our chapter quartets will likely be offered a chance to sing at the July 2026 International based on final tallies of scores and the new “Sing In” program organized at the Society level. 

Becca Williams spoke on behalf of the Culture Triad team and extended an invite for a social event on April 22 as part of Spring-to-ACTion – stay tuned for more details. 

Jacob Broude, chapter membership director, welcomed returning guests Costanza Frakes and Brie Hebron.  First time guests were Susan Campbell and Carole Prietto.  Also this week, the Georgetown Chimes came to visit and sing for the Harmonizers. They were guests of several current AACC members who are alums of the “Chimes” including Josh Meyers, Duncan Peacock, Devin Gerzof, Sean O’Brien and Robert Della Bernarda. Maggie McAlexanderdirected the chapter welcome song for this week’s guests. 

At this point, the two ensembles began work sessions on their music in separate spaces in the building. 

The Harmonizers concentrated on their contest song, “Harmony” with help from Turner Arndt and Jared Liscinsky to review the performance plans coached last week by Cy Wood. This week, Randall Eliason did the narration that will be part of the package for “Harmony.” The chorus also touched on “I’m Just a Bill” as well, so that other show songs will be learned during this contest preparation period. To wrap up their work, the chorus made self-recordings of “Stars in the Night.” 

Annie Ermlick reports that Metro Voices were busy all evening too.  They used the risers for the first half (Thanks to the many members of AACC who helped “haul” them up onto the second floor.  Good news here is that the risers can stay in the upper level of the church - thanks to the efforts by Terry Reynolds for negotiating that option.) The risers helped Metro Voices with their performance plan and positioning for shows and contest. They did the choreography that had been created and taught by Maggie McAlexander. They held sectional for “Yes I Can” with a goal to be ready for their coaching session on April 7.

The wrap up of the March 24 meeting included the 50/50 drawing organized by Alan Wile, then Joe directed “Keep the Whole World Singing.” There was an afterglow at the HarmoHouse for pizza, chats and tags.

Here are other news items of interest to members of the Alexandria Chapter:

On Thursday, March 19, the AACC chapter provided support for a day-long choral festival for schools in DC.  This was the third annual event for the chapter in cooperation with the music education staff of the DC School system. (It is similar to state choral festivals in other states.) 

There were about 90 student singers from five schools at the “DCPS Harmony” event – hosted this year at Duke Ellington School of the Arts.  Students and their teachers arrived at 9 am and worked on some choral skills and prepared to sing songs for an afternoon concert at which parents and other supporters were invited to attend. The chapter helped with a pizza lunch and plenty of snacks and waters for the day.

A crew of AACC helped with hosting duties and many members donated cash to cover costs of snacks and waters for the singers. The concert was on the main stage in the school using their risers. Students at the school managed the sound and stage hand duties for the concert.

AACC members and other BHS members helped with the teaching sessions during the day preparing the youth singers for the concert. Some filled in as section leaders for the concert songs. Some formed a quartet to also demonstrate the typical barbershop quartet. Plus a number of other AACC members where at the concert to cheer and support the concert. 

This program was kicked-off a few weeks ago with Melody Hine coming to DC and meeting with music educators and their students at the participating high schools in advance of this one-day choral festival. She created an original song and arrangement based on her interviews with the students during her visit. 

Robert Battle, head of the DC Public Schools (DCPS) Music team, welcomed all the students and their teachers and families and supporters who came to the 4 pm concert.  Artistic director of AACC, Joe Cerutti, was emcee for the concert.  Some of the schools prepared a song of their own to share with their fellow students.  Then all school groups filled the risers for their songs with Melody as director. Before the main song, however, Joe interview four students and their teacher, from Jackson-Reed High School, asking them how it went, how things unfolded for them in preparation for the concert.  

Student singers were given a water bottle and decal from AACC as they left the hall at the end of the concert. (Left over water bottles were offered to chapter members on Tuesday night for themselves or family and friends.)

Then on Sunday, March 22, Capital Force performed their end-of-the-season showcase at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, in Alexandria, beginning at 3:30 pm.  A good crowd of family and friends of the chapter and the singers were on hand for the free concert featuring all three ensembles of the Alexandria A Capella Collective. There was a free-will donation as folks departed the concert. 

AACC artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed all attendees and complimented the work by the Capital Force music team and the efforts of the youth singers.

Metro Voices sang two songs to kick off the concert with Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander directing. Likewise, the Harmonizers sang two songs directed by Tony Colosimo. The combined AACC chorus sang two songs, one each directed by Joe and Samantha.

Capital Force sang their two songs with directing by Tessa Walker and Julian LeFlore. A quartet of Capital Force singers also sang at the concert.

Terry Reynolds was emcee for the event plus youth singers made comments during the show about their experience this season to include their favorite memories. 

Thanks to all who helped with the showcase including riser crews and sound. All singers wore an AACC t-shirt. There was a Sunday afternoon afterglow at Rock It Grill, too.

ATTN AACC Members:  do you have architecture, construction and/or home repair experience. Joe has offered for the chapter to convert the garage under HarmoHouse into dry and secure storage for the chapter’s historic collection – uniforms, photos, show scripts, board minutes, trophies and other memorabilia.  If you or a family member has some experience, please speak with Jack Pitzer sometime soon.  Need to take a look at the space and see what needs to be done to convert it and decide if it is indeed a good idea. Currently we are paying for a rental space at really high monthly rates and this would help us reduce that cost.  

Finally, AACC members are encouraged to inquire about Harmony College East, June 18-21, at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Many long-time members have attended over the years.  It’s a great weekend of coaching and learning, singing and meeting, sharing and having fun.  It is designed to provide education for individuals, quartets and small choral ensembles. Bill Colosimo and Sheryl Berlin are deans for this Mid-Atlantic District event. One way to learn more about the weekend is to participate in a Zoom session  Sunday, April 12 at 3 pm. EDT, at this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2099589492?pwd=d2xYV0k4NWJ4SzJSMGZ3aGRoR2VrUT09

Until next time – editorjack!

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

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

 

 

 

Looking Back on the March 20-21, 2026 Division Convention and Contest with AACC Members Success

 Looking Back on the March 20-21, 2026 Division Convention and Contest with AACC Members Success

The 2026 Southern Division and Central Division contests/conventions for the Mid-Atlantic District (M-AD) were combined for a great event on March 20-21 at the Towson University Performing Arts Center in Towson. (The AACC is in the Southern Division of M-AD.) Neither the Harmonizers nor Metro Voices competed in the chorus contest, but there were ten quartets in the contest with active AACC members and several with former members! There were 30 quartets registered for the first round on Friday night.

The list of quartets with active AACC members included: BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Kevin Mendez, Josh Myers and Ryan Mextorf; SIDE HUSTLE with Tanner Perdue, Matt Darouse, Ian Trent and Cooper Schwartz; MENTAL NOTE with Jeffrey Mauro, Scott Beach, Jerry Candrelli and Mike Geipel (this quartet had to scratch on Friday night as the tenor was ill); SENTIMENTAL with Rob Santine, Lance Fisher, Josh Myers, and David Breen; INSTAGRAMPS with Rob Seay, Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White; FIRST TAKE with Alex Corson, Tony Colosimo, Drew Wheaton, and Andrew Havens; BREAKTHROUGH with Mike Fasano, Jordan Zimmerman, Jason Lee and Ken White; GQ with Amanda Saudroni, Katheryn Gillis, Ali Houser and Samantha Tramack; BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo, and Heather and Andrew Havens; and SUPERNOVA with Maggie McAlexander, Tessa Walker. Serena Davis and Amanda Pitts.

Former members in quartets included Will Daniel Simmons in SECRET BEST FRIENDS; Garry Von Lehn in Remnant; Bob Hirsh in CAPITAL CLASSICS; and Jim Lake in SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT. 

Southern Division champ quartet was BETTER TOGETHER, second place was SUPERNOVA, and third place was BELTWAY. INSTAGRAMPS was declared Southern Division Senior Quartet Champ.

The Saturday night finals round was for those quartets hoping to qualify for the International contest in July and six AACC groups made it into that round. Some quartets automatically qualified for St. Louis (with more being named after the other qualification contests are held around the Society including GQ, FIRST TAKE and SECRET BEST FRIENDS.  

Although AACC ensembles did not compete in the chorus contest, there were a number of AACC members involved as directors or singers around the district: David DesPortes sang with Rittenhouse Chorus; Bob Arbetter sang with Old Dominion; Bob Mathes sang with Dundalk; Mike Wallen directed Richmond and Scott Beach, Mike Geipel, Jerry Candrilli. Bob Wilson and Clark Chesser sang with Richmond; Kris Zinkievich directed and Biff Gaut, Tim Buell, Bob Hirsh and Logan Glauser sang with Heart of Maryland; Julian LeFore directed True North Chorus that place second in the Central Division Chorus contest; Garry Von Lehn sang with the Catoctones; Jim Lake and Bob Hirshsang with DC; and Sean Devine was co-director of the Dream Chorus. 

The Virginians from Richmond were named Southern Division chorus champions. 

Anyone who wants more detail of scores, go to midatlanticdistrict.com, click on events and follow the trail to scores from these contests. 

As you might expect there were a number of AACC members involved as M-AD leaders and event staff for the weekend. Ken Rub was production stage manager for the contest weekend with several BHS members as helpers including Patricia Chow from AACC. Mike Kelly headed up audio video and tech matters. Mike Fasano is executive vice president of the M-AD and helped with the stage operation.  Other AACC members on the M-AD board besides Mike include Dave Welter, treasurer and Sheryl Berlin, board member at large. 

A good number of members and family and friends attended to cheer and support the contestants this year including a number of long-time members and many new members and their families.  

Until next time – editorjack!

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

 

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