Looking Back on the October 11th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting
There was a lot of barbershop harmony at the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) again this week. Membership director Jacob Broude was busy welcoming the singers attending the second meeting of Metro Voices this week, along with welcoming Harmonizers. Members welcomed Craig Odell back this week.
Associate director Tony Colosimo started off the Harmonizer evening in the auditorium with a great warm up session.
He thanked the chorus for their good work and cooperation at the M-AD contest weekend in Lancaster, PA. There were congratulations for quartets and guys who sang and guys who worked at the convention. (See the Looking Back report from the weekend.)
Tony worked with the riser singers while artistic director Joe Cerutti worked with the Metro Voices. The chorus worked on “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch;” “Let It Snow” and “Winter Wonderland” that are part of the “Caroling Caroling Medley;” plus “Mary Had a Baby,” and “Silent Night.”
Then the chorus formed small learning groups in four other spots within SRT. Small group leaders were Ryan Mextorf, Lance Fisher, David Breen, and Turner Arndt. Those sessions worked on “JINGLE BELLS.” When those groups returned to the risers, the whole chorus worked on that song to apply lessons learned.
Next week singers will have the opportunity to sing in an octet to exhibit their readiness for performance. It was stressed that singers should do the octet only when they are ready, not as a test to see how it goes.
Joe joined the chorus in the auditorium for the last part of the night and first off thanked the singers who made the effort to go to Lancaster, to be the test chorus for a training session for chorus directors, for perfectly responding to his cues during the master class, and for helping cheer our fellow members who were in the contest. Dennis Ritchey also thanked the chapter, on behalf of M-AD, for all they did in Lancaster.
Major points in this week’s business session included the request for help moving risers and materials after the meeting from operations director Gary Cregan; Terry Reynolds says quartets that want to sing a song or part of one on the holiday show should let him know immediately; Joe invited any members interested in serving on a restarted repertoire committee to speak to him; and finally members should mark their calendar for the 1 pm sing-out on Friday, Nov. 11thfor Veterans’ Day.
Joe shared the plans for the sing and social time with Alfred Street Baptist Men’s Choir. It will be Wed. Oct. 12th at SRT at 7 pm. He stressed that if a singer can only make it out one night this week, he should come to the sing with Alfred Street. Their choir has invited another chorus and we will be inviting some other area barbershop chapters to join us. Dean Rust is organizing this effort and Clyde Crusenberry is organizing the refreshments part of the night (he was busy before the meeting collecting coolers that guys brought in.) He would welcome any early arrivals on Wed. night to come down to the cafeteria to see how they could help. Masks will be worn when not singing. Chorus will wear the black camp shirt, jeans, with blacks shoes and socks.
The chapter bid safe travels to Jonathan Rojas, son-in-law of Ike Evans, who has been a frequent guest on Tuesday nights. He is relocating to Spain. And they offered three cheers to have Ben Watsky back on the risers after his recent wedding.
Next week the chapter will hold it’s annual election. The 2023 Nominating Committee has completed its work in finding candidates to serve on the Harmonizers' chapter board for the coming year. The nominees are: President: Noah Van Gilder; Treasurer: Terry Reynolds; Secretary: Cy Shuster; Members At Large: Dave Kohls, Joshua Baumgardner, Turner (TJ) Arndt, John Greene, Devin Gerzof and Carolyn Griffin (who will serve as Vice President of the board)
Here are the bios of the candidates:
Noah Van Gilder (President) will serve his second term as president. His previous leadership roles for the Harmonizers include one term as vice president for marketing and public relations and three terms as board member at large. In his professional life, Noah is a policy analyst for the federal government. He graduated as a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 2006 and as a Master of Public Administration from the George Washington University in 2012.
Terry Reynolds (Treasurer) has been a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers since 1992 and has served in numerous musical and leadership positions including Executive Director, President, Treasurer, Music & Performance VP, and Front Row Captain. He has been Associate or Assistant Director for over 20 years. He currently manages the activities and operations of the Music Team for Artistic Director Joe Cerutti. Terry has held numerous positions with the Barbershop Harmony Society serving on the Leadership Operations Project Team (LOPT), Chorus Director Development Committee, as a Certified Trainer for Chorus Director Workshop Intensive (CDWI), and on the Leadership Academy Training Faculty for President and for Music and Performance. Terry is an IT Specialist and Data Analyst for the consulting company Deloitte, supporting US Government clients. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
Cy Shuster(Secretary) joined the Harmonizers last fall, moving here from New Mexico to be closer to family. In Albuquerque, he competed under the direction of Farris Collins and Tony Sparks in Duke City Sound. He is in the twentieth year of operating his business as an independent piano tuner/technician, and got into barbershop a decade ago by singing in a pickup chorus with Scott Kitzmiller (father to Kyle and Kohl) at the annual piano technician conventions, where he now teaches. He has served on the boards of several nonprofits. He grew up in the mountains of southern New Mexico, and then lived in California for 25 years, both north and south. In his prior career, he designed and developed software for more than thirty years for companies such as Lotus, Borland, Ashton-Tate, Hughes, Citicorp, and Autodesk, going all the way back to the days of punched cards.
Dave Kohls (Member-at-Large) has been associated with the Harmonizers since 2011 and has served on the Alexandria Harmonizers, Inc. board as a community board member since 2020. Dave is a psychologist with a private practice in Alexandria, VA, providing both clinical services to individuals and consulting services to industry and government. Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in physics, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and a doctorate in clinical psychology. Although Dave no longer sings in public, he is passionate about the power of music to enrich lives and improve our communities.
Devin Gerzof (Member-at-Large) has been a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers since the fall of 2019. He began his tenure on the BHS board in 2021. Devin works on Capitol Hill for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. While at Georgetown, Devin sang with the Georgetown Chimes, the campus' only all-male acapella group. Devin developed his barbershop roots with the Chimes and is excited to continue his post-college involvement in barbershop harmony with the Harmonizers. He attended Georgetown University for his bachelor’s degree in Government and Psychology.
Joshua Baumgardner (Member-at-Large) will continue as a community member on our board. He enjoyed a diverse career, performing both operatic, concert, and choral works across the United States and briefly in Germany. Joshua had the distinct pleasure of being a young artist with Opera North, the Mittelsächsiches Theatre, and the American Wagner Society as well as a regional finalist for the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Joshua also enjoyed a career teaching voice alongside his career singing. He now enjoys a career as a full-time realtor with TTR Sotheby's International Realty, and still performs as a soloist on occasion at the request of conductors with whom he has worked previously. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from James Madison University and his M.M. from Florida State University, where he was awarded the HannahBeaulieu prize for vocal excellence.
John Greene (Member-at-Large) is not new to the Harmonizers, having been a member for 8 years, and will serve a second term as a community board member. He is retired after a 34-year career with the United States Copyright Office (Library of Congress) during which time he studied business administration at Central Michigan University. He has sung and performed (vocal and instrumental) most of his life. He is a current parishioner of The Alfred Street Baptist Church where he serves as president and member of the Handbell Choir and two vocal choirs. He went to Howard University where he received his Bachelor of Music Education degree.
Carolyn Griffin (Member-at-Large) will also continue as a community member for our board. She is the Producing Artistic Director of MetroStage where she has been since its founding in 1984. During that time, she has produced over one hundred main stage productions, including seventeen plays and musicals. She has chaired both the Alexandria Arts Forum, which she co-founded, and the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, served on regional panels for both the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Kentucky Arts Council and various other arts boards. She has received numerous awards including the Actors Center Award of Distinction, the Award of Harmony from the Alexandria Harmonizers, the Helen’s Star from theater Washington, and was named a “Living Legend” by the Alexandria Gazette Packet and Alexandria Rotary Club. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the George Washington University, a Master’s degree in Psychology from Catholic University and an MBA from Georgetown University.
Turner Arndt (Member-at-Large) has been a Harmonizer since February 2019 and a BHS member for 8 years. He is currently on the chorus music team, serving as visual leader for the chorus. Turner is a Civil Engineer working for a specialty subcontractor in Manassas, VA and has a Bachelor's Degree in Construction Engineering and a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering, both from the University of Alabama. In addition to his time spent at work and with the chorus, Turner coaches for a high school rowing program in Fairfax County and is passionate about staying physically active and getting outdoors.
The chapter election will be held during the business meeting at our rehearsal Tuesday, October 18. Please try to attend so that we can reach a quorum.
Thanks to Dave Kohls and Bruce Roehm for their work in serving on the committee - Stan Quick, nominating committee chair.
The chapter celebrated September and October birthdays this week – Tony announced them at the meeting and each member earned one clap. At the afterglow, there was cake and we sang the song. September birthdays are Carl Kauffmann, Michael Berkson, Lew Klinge, Tom Frederick, Father Joe Witmer, Mario Sengco, Stan Quick, Bob Wilson, Don Thompson and Randy Lazear.
October birthdays are Phil Ashford, Tom Berkey, Chris Buechler, Bill Colosimo, Devin Gerzof, Paul Grimes, Craig Kujawa, Michael Pinto, Jack Pitzer, Mike Schwartz, Cy Shuster, and John Smith.
In other news, president Noah Van Gilder shared news that Connie Lauther, wife of former Harmonizer Bruce, died recently. Services will be Oct. 18th, 10 am, at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home. Our hearts go out to Bruce and the family.
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 74th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)
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