Looking Back on the July 11, 2023 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the July 11, 2023 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting 

There was a good number of members and guests at this week’s chapter meeting right after the big International contest and convention in Louisville.  Members were eager to extend personal congratulations to the chapter members who were in the contests and events representing our chapter.

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo did the warm up session for the combined chorus of the Harmonizers and Metro Voices.

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti was quick to take the microphone and recognize the many active Harmonizers who competed and performed at International!  Starting with the powerful performances by Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens quartet, FIRST TAKE, who placed third in the quartet contest. Lance Fisher and David Breen competed with PRAXIS. Samantha Tramack competed with SWEET AND SOUR with her brother and sister and husband. Kevin Mendez competed with WILDFIRE. Maggie McAlexander competed with ADRENALINE in the Festival portion of the convention.

 

Lance sang with the Hershey chorus and earned a silver medal.  He and Josh Myers sang with the East Coast Sound chorus.  Sophie Clarke sang with Parkside Melody chorus. 

 

Many members watched all or part of the convention and contest from their home on Live Stream. A more complete Looking Back report from International will be released soon with lots of other news of the Alexandria chapter family. 

 

Joe also thanked all the members who hosted and provided tours for the Heavy Medal Chorus who visited us prior to their trip to Louisville. Those singers were profoundly grateful for the hospitality and support. They placed 12^th in the chorus contest.

 

Great to see Ryan Mextorf and Mike Fasano on the risers this week.

 

Samantha Tramack and her husband, Mert, are due to arrive Wednesday, July 12, and a crew of our members was organized to help them unload and move into a home in Reston. 

 

Here are calendar highlights for the next few months.  Members should post on their personal calendars:

 

July 18 – Cy Wood here to teach choreo for “Sit Down You’re Rockin the Boat”

July 25 – possible sing in Old Town starting at Market Square Stay tuned for details

Aug 9 – performance at a Fairfax County Park – Franconia Park on Telegraph Road

Sept 9 – 75^th Anniversary Fall Show at Schlesinger

Sept 10 – launch of Capital Force seasonal youth chorus – a third ensemble for the chapter

Sept 29-30 – Mid Atlantic District (MAD) contest and convention in York, PA

Dec 16-17 – Holiday Show

 

At this point, the two ensembles began work on their respective repertoire. Metro Voices spent their work time in sectionals.  The Harmonizers worked first on “San Francisco” and then on “Calling Dreams.” 

 

The chapter business meeting was coordinated by communications director Steve Murane. 

 

Chapter executive director Randall Eliason alerted all members to go to the district web site to reserve rooms for the fall contest in York.  And to get tickets.  Both ensembles will be singing there. It’s at midatlanticdistrict.com.

 

He also is seeking ideas for an afterglow location for the fall show.

 

President Noah Van Gilder reports that Rob Barnovsky is recovering at home and that he needs a ride to chapter.  (YeEd noticed on SLACK that Tony has offered to bring him.) 

 

Chapter secretary David DesPortes presented a membership renewal to Steve Murane for 21 years.

 

Frank Fedarko spoke to members about selling ads for the show program, and Randy Lazear spoke about ticket sales. Steve reports that a show flyer will be sent to members soon for their promotion to patrons and family.

 

Ben Watsky welcomed guests this week.  There were four singing guests present: EJ Harold and Jeff Lau who sing with the West Point Alumni Chorus; John Cooper and his wife Ellen from the Erie, PA, chapter; and Lea Musicovisiting Metro Voices.  Terry Reynolds directed the chapter welcome song.

 

At this point in the meeting, both ensembles went back to work on their songs. Joe reminded both ensembles that there is one more new song to work on for the finale of the show – “Defying Gravity.”

 

Mike Fasano had the winning 50/50 ticket this week. The meeting ended after the two ensembles sang “Keep the Whole World Singing” together directed by Sophie Clarke.  Joe took the pizza count and invited folks  to the afterglow at the Harmo House. 

 

In other chapter news, the recent passing of former member Steve Guy prompted Allen Hanenbaum, to pen this note to YeEd: “When Steve Guy was active with the Harmonizers, there were four dentists in the chorus – Will Cox, Randy Lazear, Steve and Al.  But none of us sang baritone, so we couldn’t form a quartet!”

 

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 75^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 July 1, 2023 Alexandria Show with BinG Chorus Heavy Medal

 Looking Back on the July 1, 2023 Alexandria Show with BinG Chorus Heavy Medal

The plans for this great weekend started months ago when artistic director Joe Cerutti was in Germany with Barbershop in Germany singers and the Heavy Medal Chorus director Norbert Hammes.   

 

And despite heavy rains and many flight delays, the chorus from BinG arrived in the DC area just in time to do the combined show with the Harmonizers and Metro Voices on Saturday night, July 1, 2023 at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

 

Some BinG singers arrived on Thursday or Friday, but most arrived some time on Saturday.  Many of them brought some family members as well.  They live in cities all over Germany and they meet three times per year as a chorus to work on songs for competition and shows.  All members of their chorus have won a medal as a quartet singer in the BinG contests.  Thus the name Heavy Medal.

 

Their chorus is headed to the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) convention in Louisville, KY, via a flight from National Airport on Sunday, July 3. They will compete in the International chorus contest.

 

Members of the Alexandria Chapter hosted all of the BinG guests in their homes and made sure they got from the airport to Metro area tourist places, and to the show and afterglow that was at the Harmo House on Saturday night. Because of flight delays for several, the coaching session set for Saturday morning was cancelled.

 

Therefore Joe sent out word to move up the call time to 4:30 pm at the Memorial. A large Harmonizer riser crew arrived early to set up five sections on the stage and to add chairs to the auditorium’s main floor to provide more seating.  A high response from patrons, family and friends responded to promotions. Chapter operations director Gary Cregan drove the Hamro truck and he and shows director Doug White set up a mic for the emcees. (One BinG guest, Joel Klawikowski, staying with Gary also helped set up risers and chairs – he is a behind-the-scenes helper for BinG performances and his Dad is in the chorus.)

 

Each of the three choruses had warm up time on the risers and adjusted their line up accordingly, since the stage was small. There were about 30 Heavy Medal singers and they wore bright color shirts with HM on the front.  There were about 50 Harmonizers and they wore their black camp shirts and jeans.  Metro Voices wore black tops and jeans and there were 13 of them on the risers. Warm up sessions were held in various parts of the Memorial building. 

 

Before actual show time, Joe held a combined meeting for all singers and encouraged a hearty welcome of cheers and applause for the BinG chorus. He talked briefly about the afterglow and took a pizza count!  And he introduced six Alexandria chapter members who would be hosting tours on Sunday afternoon:  Calvin Schnure hosting a bird watching tour at Huntley Meadows; Kellen Hertz hosting for a pub crawl in DC; Frank Shipp hosting a tour of Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, VA; Tyler Carpenter hosting a tour of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall; Mary Cooper hosting a tour of Arlington Cemetery; and Noah Van Gelder hosting a walking tour of the major monuments on the Mall.

 

The Harmonizers, with Joe directing, started the show with “I’m the Music Man” followed by “Wee Small Hours/Always: and “New York, New York” – two long time favorites of the chorus that are being added to the repertoire for this 2023 75^th anniversary year for the chapter.  Randal Eliason was emcee for the Harmonizer part of the show that ended with a terrific performance of “Impossible Dream, ” A quartet of John Sifuentes, Tony Colosimo, Lance Fisher and David Breen sang the verse before the chorus joined them.

 

Metro Voices came to the risers in front of the Harmonizers and sang two songs directed by Tessa Walker – “Don’t Mean a Thing’ and “I See the Light.”

 

Then both Alexandria ensembles combined to sing “Why We Sing” which is the spark for the theme of the September 9, 75^th Anniversary show – “This Is Why We Sing.”  Tickets are on sale now for this major barbershop show featuring the two choruses and MAX Q and RINGMASTERS.

 

After the Virginia singers left the stage, the energetic Heavy Medal chorus took the risers and entertained the audience with several great arrangements that displayed their skill at mastering all genre of music such as the Stevie Wonder song, “Isn’t She Lovely.”  They presented a beautiful plaque to Joe and president Noah Van Gilder, for the chapter, expressing thanks for hosting and sharing a great barbershop weekend.

 

They did introduce their friend and the founder of Barbershop in Germany, Manfred Adams, who was traveling with them to Louisville. They also expressed appreciation to the American Embassy in Berlin and the German Embassy in Washington, DC, for their support in helping make the concert trip possible. Plus the support from Goethe-Institute – Washington. They finished their set with the two contest songs they will perform at the International directed by co-directors Norbert Hammes and Matthias Neuburger.    

 

After the show, all of the BinG singers, their local hosts and many of their new barbershop friends went to the Harmo House for lots of tag singing, lots of pizza, and lots of talk about how the hobby has spread around the world.

 

Luckily the predicted rain did not happen, although it was extremely hot for the tours.  Then there was a dinner at Joe Theismann’s in Alexandria that evening for a wrap up of the weekend.

 

The chapter did invite donations from patrons either as they left the show or online; and everyone got a promotional reminder about the fall show from general manager Susan Fitzpatrick or shows director Doug White as they exited.

 

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

 

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