Looking Back on the Dec. 17, 2024 AACC Holiday Sing in Old Town Alexandria

 Looking Back on the Dec. 17, 2024 AACC Holiday Sing in Old Town Alexandria

The combined ensembles of the Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) sang holiday songs in the popular King Street area of Old Town Alexandria on Tuesday, Dec. 17.  The good-sized chorus assembled at Market Square to warm up the voices, and pass around the Santa hats to wear as they walked from restaurant to restaurant. Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed the singers and many family and friends including The Quin-Tones barbershop quartet.  

The quartet was in town to make appearances at six DC Metro high school music departments as an introduction of barbershop harmony to student singers.  It was a busy week for them along with Joe,  and the school music educators were thrilled with the outcome and the enthusiasm the quartet was able to generate with the area students.

Tuesday night’s caroling was also a success and the chorus made stops at a dozen or so popular restaurants along King Street.  Mark Klostermeyer arrived in Old Town about 4 pm that evening to make an advance check in with the managers and got their permission.  Many remembered the chorus having been there last year! Metro Voices entered each restaurant first and started singing their songs while the Harmonizer filed in to be ready to sing.  Then each stop ended with a combined ensemble performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (with solos by Michael Berkson and Maggie McAlexander; and then all singers exited singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas!” Joe directed the Harmonizers and Samantha Tramack directed Metro Voices. 

There were lots of folks out and enjoying the evening since the weather was balmy and no rain. The chorus took advantage of the situation and did a longer set of songs at the Torpedo Factory stairway/stage. They ended the fun evening at Chadwick’s for an afterglow again with a good sized AACC crowd on hand for fellowship and relaxation after a busy holiday season.

The next gathering of AACC will be January 14 at the usual 7 pm start time.  The evening will include a kick off for the 2025 season, and to hold another fun “Put Together Quartet Contest” for chapter members.  

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 76^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 Dec. 14 and 15, 2024 AACC Holiday Concerts

 Looking Back on the Dec. 14 and 15, 2024 AACC Holiday Concerts 

The two holiday performances for the Alexandria A Capella Collective were terrific – great singing, good crowds, warm and comfortable venue, fun for the singers and the audiences.

The Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles were well prepared with new holiday tunes and several popular songs from past shows.  Ashley Merryman prepared the script that was used by several fellow chorus members to introduce the songs and develop the “Home for the Holidays” – a family celebration of joy theme for the concerts.  Song introductions were made by Randall Eliason, Terry Reynolds, Chad Ross, Ian Trent, Tony Colosimo, Dana Richardson, Ashley Merryman, Samantha Tramack, Joe Cerutti, Cy Shuster and Chuck Miller. On Sunday, Joe recognized Harmonizer director emeritus, Will Cox, who was in the audience and thanked him for his more that forty years of service to the chapter. 

The concerts were at Fairlington United Methodist Church, 3900 King Street, Saturday, Dec. 14 at 6 pm and on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 3:30 pm. Featured guests for the show were The Workman Family Singers with dad, mom, 17 year old son, daughter's 15 and 12 and 7 year old son. They sang as a quartet and as a combined family ensemble.  For the concert finale, they were featured with the AACC chorus in “Gloria.” 

The concert did not have an intermission but there was a fun mid-way break when the audience joined the chorus to sing the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Members of the chorus coaxed sections of the audience to sing each of the days with fun and twisted lyrics created by the chorus member. On the “Five Golden Rings’ line, the chorus musical director team (Maggie McAlexander, Samantha Tramack, Tony Colosimo and Joe Cerutti)  stole the show and busted chords with more and more swipes and key changes as the song progressed.  It was all great fun.  

The singers wore black attire with red and green accents pieces. 

On the Sunday afternoon show, the new Capital Force, youth ensemble of the AACC, sang a song as an introduction to the fans of the chapter.  Their outstanding performance was directed by Tessa Walker with assistance from Sheryl Berlin and Julian LaFlore.  

The Harmonizers kicked off the concerts singing “J I N G L E Bells” with Steve White using his set of antique sleigh bells as accompaniment. For “Deck The Halls,” a quartet of Lance Fisher, Chad Ross, Ian Trent, and Terry Reynolds sang an interlude.  Joe and Tony took turns directing Harmonizer songs. Samantha and Maggie took turns directing Metro Voices songs. 

The combined ensembles sang twice during the concert. First,  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with solo spots sung by Maggie and by Michael Berkson. The grand finale of each concert was the combined performance of “Gloria” by the two ensembles and The Workman Family Singers. And each concert ended with a fun farewell, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

There were some other volunteers from the chapter family who helped at the church for the concerts:  Susan Fitzpatrick, AACC general manager, was on hand to handle all aspects of the ticketing process with help from Doug White, Matt Ambler, Masahisa Takahshi, and Barbara Berenhaus.  Catherine LaValley was producer for the event.  Mike Kelly did videography with sound help from Doug White.  Dean Rust and Frank Fedarko led an effort to reach out to local senior living centers. Terry Reynolds coordinated the leaders for the audience sing and kept the members well informed about times and locations for rehearsals. Kathy Kauffmann helped folks get to their seats. 

Great to see several Harmonizer and Metro Voices singers on stage for the first time as a member of the chorus. Also fun to see many members in the audience with their families. After the Sunday show, Joe invited members to the Harmo House for an afterglow and goodies to go with the tag singing and singing with The Workman 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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

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