Looking Back on the June 9-10-11, 2023 Retreat Weekend
The Alexandria Chapter retreat for 2023 was at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD with both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices attending. It was a different retreat than past years, since neither ensemble is headed to the International contest in July (which was the situation in the many previous retreats). The weekend teaching sessions were also offered via FaceBook for anyone who could not attend.
Coaches for the weekend were Rick Spencer, associate director of Music City Chorus in Nashville, and David McEachern returning to help us at retreat from Toronto.
Most singers arrived Friday evening and after checking into the dorms on campus, gathered at O’Lordans Irish pub in Westminster. There was some tag singing on the patio outside the rehearsal space and name tags for folks to wear so the two groups could get to know more names. A good crew of guys unloaded the truck which Dennis Ritchey drove to the retreat with risers and sound equipment. Risers were set up for both ensembles.
Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, conducted warm up exercises for the combined choruses all on the risers. He taught the “Friends” tag that the chapter has traditionally sung to end the retreat weekend.
Music team administrator Terry Reynolds welcomed all Friday night singers to the 2023 retreat. Ken Rub, event manager substitute for Craig Kujawa, spoke about keys and wrist bans for meals; name tags to use; location of rest rooms and cafeteria; and offered some yoga equipment he brought for those who might want to use it during the weekend.
Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, added his welcome to this special retreat with Metro Voices. He set the stage for a great experience for vocal improvement and for comradery. He shared the plan to welcome our Metro Voices singers to all the traditions of the chapter!
Next Joe announced and explained the Class of 2023 tradition. Each of the 20 new members were given a bandana to wear at every chapter event and promised there would be bandana checks now and then! Joe also thanked Tyler Carpenter for making them – the red bandanas had the logos of the ensemble on them – 14 for Metro Voices and 6 for the Harmonizers.
Mark Klostermeyer helped pass out the bandanas to Sheryl Berlin, Patricia Chow, Sophie Clark, Elaine Cooper, Mary Cooper, Elisabeth Cosh, Carey Fagerstrom, Cadence Flaherty, Jeanne Hillinck, Lenna Jawdat, Heidi Krukowski, Maggie McAlexander, Charlyne Chuck Miller, Samantha Tramack, Steve Gudauska, David Hillinick, Sean O’Brien, Chad Ross, John Taber and Kaj Vaisanen.
Then the coaching began on “Why We Sing” with the two ensembles. The work session ended at 10 pm. There were ice cream treats for everyone back in the dorms.
Samantha Tramack, new director for Metro Voices, was welcomed by Joe and she did the warm up session at 8:30 am on Saturday after breakfast. There was coffee for those arrivals who came on Saturday morning. And there was a bandana check. Craig Odell arrived to sing too.
Metro Voices worked in Hill Hall adjacent to the main Forum facility where the Harmonizers worked on “Wee Small Hours” arranged by Walter Latzko and where everyone had meals.
After lunch there was a review of the “Friends” tag. And Joe announced the chapter would settle on tenor, lead, bari and bass for labels on the parts of all music. He also reported that Zak Sandler and Lenna Jawdat were married last Saturday – which brought cheers from all their fellow singers in Metro Voices and the Harmonizers.
The two ensembles each sang for the other to share the song they had worked on in the morning – Metro Voices sang “It Don’t Mean a Thing” with Tessa Walker directing; and the Harmonizers sang “Wee Small Hours” with Joedirecting.
Saturday afternoon included work sessions with the coaches for each ensemble, a cookie break at 3 pm, and then a switch of songs. At about 4:30 pm, the rehearsals ended and the Class of 23 had a group photo taken and then the class had time to work on planning a skit for the Saturday night party.
Mike Fasano bought out a collection of barbershop ‘things’ from the Terry Jordan estate – free for the taking.
Dinner was at 5:30 and then at 6:30 the two groups started working again until about 8 pm. Rob Barnovsky arrived to sing – the chapter extended their support to Rob when they learned that his father had died in recent days.
Work ended about 8 pm when the traditional party began. There were munchies and drinks available for all. Most folks enjoyed the time to mix and mingle out on the patio area adjacent to the rehearsal space.
The evening’s events began with a bandana check and then the skit from the Class of 23. Chad Ross was organizer and seemed to keep the class in line and energized. They did a take-off on a typical chapter meeting – including real onion skins peeled off a big onion which Stephen Gudauska gave to Tony as a memento! They ended their ‘meeting’ with “It’s Great to Be a Demonizer” cheer!
Joe welcomed retreat organizer Chuck McKeever who came to celebrate with old friends – he lives now in the Westminster area. The Harmonizers sang “Wee Small Hours” for him. Next Joe explained three videos that were played for all to enjoy and to see what “used to be” – “Wee Small Hours” gold medal performance; “New York, New York’ on stage; and “San Francisco: from “I Am Harvey Milk.”
Next things got fun crazy when Jason Lee and Tyler Carpenter were game wranglers. First they asked four members to come up and the chorus had to vote which member was the correct answer – questions like who was the youngest, how many states have you been to, how many first cousins do you have, what age did you start singing, what’s the largest audience you have sung for, how many eggs can you eat. The chorus voted by standing behind the member they thought was correct.
Then they switched to a “To Tell the Truth” game – Jason invited three or four members to step out of the room with him and he gave them a message such as “I was a DJ on a Howard Stern radio show” or “I Taught German Shepherds.” Then Tyler invited each of the four members to state their story and answer questions from the chorus. The chorus voted for the member they thought was telling the truth. Probably the best “lies” were told by Joe Cerutti when he said he was run over by a car as a kid. He fooled everyone who thought he was not telling the truth.
The fun ended with a quartet appearance by PRAXIS who sang three songs – Francesco Logozzo, Kevin Clark, Lance Fisher, and David Breen .
Socializing continued at the hall and then back in the dorms.
Breakfast on Sunday came early!! Keys and linens were turned in and all the singers assembled in the Forum for warm-up directed by Maggie McAlexander. There was one more bandana check. Metro Voices worked with Rick Spencerand the Harmonizers worked with David McEachern to add a visual plan to “Something’s Comin.” Those instructions were recorded so our in-house crew can teach and review them.
To wrap up, Joe thanked coordinators Craig Kujawa and Ken Rub; Dennis Ritchey for bringing our equipment; Jason Lee and Tyler Carpenter for the game fun; Doug White for help with the party bar; Jack Pitzer for the ice cream treats; and Chad Ross and the Class of 23. He invited Samantha Tramack to summarize her first retreat. He thanked the members for their hard work and willingness to stay focused, and for their dedication to improve our music. He also welcomed input or suggestions from anyone with ideas for future retreats.
Joe alerted the singers that a fantastic finale number for the Sept. 9 anniversary show is coming soon for a combined performance by both ensembles singing the piece from “Wicked.” He also reminded Harmonizers about the funeral for Royall Geis on Monday at Arlington.
Finally, Joe expressed appreciation to both coaches for their efforts to make us better and to help us know more about our music and our personal performances. Both David and Rick spoke with sincere remarks about the chapter and this weekend. The chapter was happy to give them a new 75th anniversary mug.
The finale was singing the “Friends” tag – always an emotional event in the life of the chapter.
Everyone joined in to load the risers and equipment onto the truck, bid farewell to each other, and headed home.
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 Chapter. - YeEd)
The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.
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