Looking Back on the March 10^th Chapter Meeting and SingStrong Appearance

The chorus appeared on the DC SingStrong show at 2 pm on Sunday, March 8^th at South Lakes Hi School in Reston.  It was a great hit with three of our new songs which were cheered wildly by the younger audience at the event.  Earlier, Tony Colosimo, Terry Reynolds, Doug White and Chris Odell taught a tag-singing class to the attendees at the event.  We assembled about 2 hours in advance to warm up and review and to do a stage test for the presentation of our package.  Carlos Barillo and Tony did the warm ups and prepared us for the show.  Joe arrived from travel just in time to join us on the stage. 

 

Here’s a great summary by Dave Branstetter in his weekly pre-meeting communication: AN ENCOURAGING DEBUT . . . Today at Sing Strong we debuted three of the songs we’ll be performing at our huge “American Icons” concert in September. I think we can safely say all three were very well received!! And if nothing else, that’s an indication that the bold step of recreating our repertoire was a good step to take. But it says so much more. It’s an indication of what this chorus is capable of. Think about it – “Thriller”, “Lullabye”, “Stars and Stripes Forever”, and “Sweet Caroline” – could four songs be more different in terms of style and character? Our ability to perform those songs at a high level says something about us. We are a barbershop chorus, but we are MORE than a chorus that just sings barbershop. Simply put, we are musicians – delivering artistry and emotion through song.

 

Tuesday nite was a hard working nite and a huge crowd of guys were present – over a hundred chorus members on the risers.  Len Dornberger decided to sing again for Pittsburgh and was back from Delaware. Mike Geipel was back up from Richmond. The FRIENDS IN HARMONY held a meeting this week too.

 

The front row worked before the rehearsal in a separate room with choreographer Carlos Barillo and Peelee Clark.  On the stage, Chuck McKeever was leading choreo review on the uptune.

 

The 7 pm start time began with a welcome-to-the-risers song by FOUR VOICES.  Carlos and Reed Livergood conducted warm ups for all.  Director Joe Cerutti welcomed Brandon Guyton, our coach for tonite. Brandon won the collegiate quartet contest with FOUR VOICES and they went on to win the BHS gold medal.  He also sang in CROSSROADS and earned a second gold medal. Brandon worked with Joe all evening on the contest. We are all excited that he will return to work with us for our major weekend retreat, May29-31 at Westminster College in Western Maryland, along with David Wright.

 

Bob Blair substituted for operations vp Todd Ryktarsyk and conducted the chapter meeting.

 

Quartet promotion chairman Calvin Schnure recognized our chapter quartets that will appear at the International Preliminary Quartet contest in Harrisburg, PA, this weekend.  They will be vying to the right to sing in the quartet contest in Pittsburgh.  Quartets are MAYHEM, LAST MEN STANDING, YOUTH RECLAMATION PROJECT and FORCAST.

 

Shows vp Nick Leiserson thanked all who made the SingStrong appearance go well.  And he announced the dates for the annual holiday show.  It will be Saturday December 12^th at 2 pm and

8 pm at Schlesinger Hall on NVCC campus in Alexandria.

Nick also gave a plug for the Aca Challenge event on March 21^st at Lincoln Theater on U Street in DC. The chorus call is 5:30 pm – singers should plan to eat prior to arrival.  Details about uniforms and such to come to all via email.  Tickets for the show are available on the website. The event has drawn over 30 groups to apply for the slots in the contest.

 

Music vp Steve White reminded singers to begin serious work on “Happy” and to be prepared for another recording session on March 24^th.

 

President Terry Reynolds announced that Jean Wachter is still in the hospital and is slowly making progress. Ross Johnson is still in the hospital and recovered. Skip Coburn is in Howard University Hospital with double pneumonia.

 

Marketing vp David Branstetter gave an update on the chapter marketing logo. More info to come to all members.

 

Don’t forget to bring your Pittsburgh costume/uniform to chapter meeting next week.

 

Secretary Chris Buechler presented membership renewal cards to new member Mike Moncibaiz for 10 years ; Josh DesPortes for 3 years; Chris Odell for 6 years; Noah Van Gilder for 8 years; Sam McFarland for 28 years; Will Cox for 37 years; and Bob Wachter for 63 years.  The chorus rose and applauded in tribute to Bob.  Alan Lamson was given his 35 year card and a lapel pin.

 

Membership vp Rich Hewitt announced the I-Pad Brigade that is available each week before the meeting, at break or after the meeting to help guys update their Groupanizer attendance plans.  These are important for show planners. Then he welcome a good line up of guests – several new men have completed applications.

 

After break, we went back to work with Brandon.  We ended the evening with a chance to make a self-evaluation recording.  There was a video recording made as well, so that members could begin the process of self-evaluation for their visual work.

 

Another good crowd made it over to LaPortas for the afterglow.  For any tag singers, there is a crew of guys at the afterglow who can help you and welcome you to join them.

 

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 of the great things going on each week during the 67^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd.