Looking Back on the July 15, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the July 15, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

This week’s chapter meeting was back at Beth El Synagogue, at 3830 Seminary Rd. It was a busy meeting with rehearsals and announcements amid the excitement for the weekend retreat at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. This will be the first retreat for a lot of members including the members of the Class of 25!

The Harmonizers and Metro Voices did their warm up sessions separately this week. Harmonizer associate director, Tony Colosimo, conducted one session (and taught them the tag, “Ireland, My Ireland I’m Longing for You” and assistant director of Metro Voices, Tessa Walker, conducted their warm ups which also included a tag taught by their director, Samantha Tramack. 

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, worked with the Harmonizers (including a reminder to wear his own name tag and to encourage other members to wear their name tag) (Wear them this weekend too!) He worked with the chorus on “World Goes Round” including refreshing the choreo plan. Plus he implemented a plan to get singers who are prepared to demonstrate how well they can perform the song in front of the other chorus members.  (He had a system that had singers who were ready put their name in a box for their singing part, then he drew names to form an ensemble.)

For the Harmonizer work on “Africa,” there was a lot of emphasis on rhythm and that was reinforced with singers clapping out the rhythms for their parts as they sang. Tony directed the work session on “Come Follow the Band” with coaching input from Joe and Turner Arndt. The Harmonizers also worked on “Wonderful World.”

Metro Voices worked at learning choreography for their contest songs – “How Far I’ll Go” and “World Here I Am” – with Tessa teaching the new choreo. Samantha worked with the chorus on “Happy Together;” “Maggie’s Medley – which is their name for her arrangement;” “Somewhere;” plus more time on the contest songs. Samantha also used the idea to invite individuals out front to demonstrate their performance levels. 

Both ensembles are considering holding rehearsal/refresher sessions on Aug. 5 and Aug. 12 while the large contingent of members are in Ireland.  Stay tuned. 

It was stressed that the retreat weekend will kick off  at 7 pm on Friday, July 18, and end about noon on Sunday, July 20. The annual retreat is a great opportunity for serious work on the music, plus a chance for members to meet and socialize with each other and get to know more names to go with the faces we see each week. The two coaches for the weekend will be Darin Drown from Denver, CO, and Cy Wood, our frequent performance coach from Ohio. There will also be a ceremony to present the 2024 distinguished service awards for the Collective. 

The AACC black t-shirts are available for just $10 each. Contact Terry Reynolds before the retreat so he can bring one to you to have for the weekend. The AACC t-shirts will be worn on Saturday of retreat (for a unified appearance in the video to be filmed that day). 

Future chapter meeting locations were confirmed: the meeting July 22 will be back at AlexRenew, then  July 29, AACC will be singing in Old Town Alexandria and passing out recruitment flyers for the next Capital Force youth ensemble.

Chapter secretary, Heidi Suckow, presented membership renewal cards to Ashley Merryman for 2 years; Rob Barnovsky for 15 years; and Mike Fasano for 31 years.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed this week’s guests including some folks present who will be guests on the trip to Ireland. Returning guests included Robby Bernarda, Lisa Venbrux, Carri Nelson, and Matt Darouse. First time guest was Gabriella Pasek. Terry Reynolds directed the chapter welcome song.

Joe asked the Class of 2025 to step forward and present their red bandanas.  Ooops – another member forgot – and so he had to answer three questions from members on the risers such as ‘why did you join Capital Force” and ‘which top ten quartets can you name.’

Also, Joe was pleased to announce that the fall show will be at Bishop Ireton High School on Sept. 20. Plus he reported the news that Robert Rund was named new CEO for the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS).  Robert is from Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) and sang baritone in the 1992 district champ quartet DOUBLE TAKE.

Word was received that former chapter member, Ross Johnson, died on July 4. He was a long time bass singer and host for quartets that came to sing for chapter shows. His wife, Susan, who was an accounting advisor for the chapter, preceded Ross in her passing. 

Word was also received from former bass section leader, Jack Stevens, who lives with his wife, Leslie, right at the entrance to Camp Mystic in Kerrville, TX. The only passable road around the devastated area is to use the private road that goes thru their 1,000-acre ranch. The erosion damage to their property was rough but nothing to their home or safety of them personally.  Jack sends his greetings and message via Keith Jones. 

The rehearsal wrapped up with  the 50/50 drawing, then singing “Keep the Whole World Singing,” directed by Elizabeth Cosh. A fun afterglow was at the Harmo House for tag singing, and snacks. The pizza delivery guy did finally got to the house after 11 pm – but AACC members can always chow down on pizza!!

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 77^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 1-5, 2025 Alexandria Chapter Successes at the BHS International Convention in Denver, CO

 Looking Back on the July 1-5, 2025 Alexandria Chapter Successes at the BHS International Convention in Denver, CO 

The Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) had a great week at the 2025 Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International Contest and Convention in Denver, CO. Many members of the chapter “family” traveled on Monday, June 30, in order to be there for the major contests and events that kicked off on Tuesday.

There were sixty-five quartets in the quarterfinals round of the quartet contest with six quartets that had active AACC members: HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentis, Lance Fisher, Kevin Mendez and David Breen; SUPERNOVA with Maggie McAlexander, Tessa Walker, Amanda Pitts, and Serena Davis; FIRST TAKE with Alex Corson, Anthony Colosimo, Drew Wheaton and Andrew Havens; LEGACY with Rick Taylor, Bill Stauffer, Brian Mastrull and Niko Porter; BELTWAY with Robert Santine, Suranjan Sen, Joshua Myers and Dan Krackhardt (filling in for Ryan Mextorf); and GQ with Amanda Sandroni, Katie Gillis, Ali Hauger and Samantha Tramack.

Two of the chapter’s quartets made it into the semifinals round: FIRST TAKE and GQ. PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel was mic tester quartet for the finals round.

When the results were called out on Saturday night after the finals quartet round, FIRST TAKE had earned the third place bronze medal from among the top ten finalists. Their total score for the three rounds was 6,659 points with a 92.5 average. GQ was awarded the fifth place bronze medal.  Their score was 6,483 points with a 90.0 average. 

The first place gold medal quartet was LEMON SQUEEZY from Sweden. Second place quartet was GIMME FOUR from Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) that has helped with Harmonizer youth camp over the years. There were two other M-AD quartets in the top ten – seventh was SECRET BEST FRIENDS (bass Will Daniel Simmons sang in the front row of our chorus before college), and tenth was SMOKE RING who sang at the chapter’s fundraising gala last year. 

The two ensembles that currently comprise AACC did not compete this year since the chapter is going to Ireland later this summer.  However, chapter members were on hand to cheer for the True North Chorus from DE  (and M-AD) and directed by Julian LeFlore who is assistant director of the Capital Force ensemble in AACC. 

The gold medal chorus winner was The Vocal Majority from Dallas with 146 singers that earned a score of 2,301 for  a 95.9 average. M-AD Choruses included Voices of Gotham, Parkside Melody, Sirens of Gotham, and East Coast Sound. Family member Erin Odel directed the Visons of Harmony treble chorus from St. Charles, MO. 

Several AACC members sang in the Dream Chorus directed by Jim Henry, a chapter coach for competition and who was speaker for our most recent Gala.  Steve White, Cy Shuster, Adele Jones, Brad Jones and Keith Jones signed up to sing in this extra chorus opportunity (they pay a fee, learn the music and come to convention early enough to practice a few times with a guest director). Former member of the Harmonizers, Lewis Smith, sang in the Dream Chorus too.  He joined the Harmonizers in 1977 when he was 15, with his dad, Al. 

GQ and FIRST TAKE earned chorus medals for their fun “walk on” spots as part of comedic contest packages with Nashville and Denver choruses. 

Several members and friends of the AACC family were judges during the convention:  Steve Tramack is chair of the overall judging committee. Panel members for the chorus and quartet contest included Chris Buechler, admin judge; and David Wright and Joe Cerutti (for the choruses only), musicality judges. Panel members for the Next Generation Quartet Contest included Mike Louque. Cy Wood and Tim Waurick. Panel members for the comedy festival included Patrick McAlexander, Mo Field and Renee Tramack. Our M-AD friends, THE QUIN-TONES, placed eleventh in the Next Gen quartet contest. 

 

On the administrative side of things, there were several from the chapter family who had extra duties. John Santora, immediate past BHS president; Kevin Keller is current president and was presenter for the quartet semifinals session; Bill Colosimo served as chairman of the Leadership Development Committee chairman for BHS which meant he managed the elections for the board with Terry Reynolds; and  Chris Buechler and Steve Tramack attended Society meetings during the week.  Steve directed the National Anthem for the Saturday contest session. 

 

Joe Cerutti was co-host for the Saturday evening Live Stream event in addition to his judging duties and staff duties all week in Denver. He also found time to announce the results of the Next Generation Quartet contest. 

 

Here are some other chapter family stories from Denver: Former Harmonizer coach, Tony DeRosa, sang in the 2024 quartet champs swan song gig, THREE AND A HALF MEN.  He directed the Association of International Champs (AIC) chorus at the spectacular AIC show on Friday night.  He also received the prestigious Joe Liles Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Sean Devine is executive director of the AIC.

 

Rasmus Kingstrum, who arranged our “Calling Dreams” song, sang with the AIC chorus, sang in the HILLBILLYS quartet representing the Society of Nordic Barbershop Singers (SNOBS) and directed the SNOBS chorus, Northern Stars, with Johan Westberg on the risers. Johan also sang with the Denver chorus, as did TJ Donahue, who appeared in a news spot on a Denver tv station that covered the convention, and as did Chad Hoseth.  

 

Jim Shoenhard and Tim Cash sang with the Nashville chorus.  Jay Butterfield sang with Dallas and earned his second gold medal with them – his first was in 1975 singing next to his dad, Gene, 50 years ago.

 

Former chapter member, Ryan Killeen, sang in TRIBUTE quartet in the quarterfinals round; plus Matt Fellows sang with WESTERN ADDITION; Christina Tramack, Samantha’s sister, sang with DESTINATION; Ben Raja, Becca William’s boyfriend, sang with GAMBIT; and Donnell Torres sang with NON-STOP in the contest and in the mic tester quartet for the Next Generation contest with TOFU CONCERN.  

 

Terry Reynolds was one of seventeen “voice actors” that recorded a branding video for BHS that was aired just before the start of the Saturday night finals session. 

 

Rick Taylor was busy all week in Denver as a staff member of the Harmony Foundation International (HFI).  He sang in LEGACY quartet in the quarterfinals round representing M-AD,  and then appeared with former chorus director, Richard Lewellen, with RIPTIDE for a special appearance on the Saturday finals show as current champions of the Worldwide Barbershop Quartet Association. . 

 

All during the week YeEd and reporters (Dixie Kennett, Ken Rub and Steve White in particular) spotted current and former members of the  AACC family at the convention (it is likely we missed someone – but it is still amazing how many of the chapter family attended): Connor Goss, Sam McFarland, Chuck Hunter, Jim Lake, David Wilt, Lew Klinge, John Knight, Greg Tepe, John Rettenmeyer, Glenn Williamson, Matt Ambler, Tom Gannon, Craig Kujawa, Dan Cook, and Norbert Hammes from BING.

 

The AACC crowd back home in the DC Metro Area kept track of things and each other all week via Slack and organized several watch parties during the quartet and chorus contests.  

 

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 77^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 8, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the July 8, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

Attendance was great this week despite the 100 degree heat in the area and a hard rain storm just before chapter time.  There was lots of fun and excitement in the air at AlexRenew as the chapter celebrated the successes of AACC members and friends at last week’s International Contest and Convention in Denver!!

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, shared a run-down of Denver accomplishments to kick off this week’s meeting.  (A complete Looking Back report will be released in a day or two – be on the lookout.) Joe also shared his plans to share some of the videos from the chorus contest when they are released. 

Other opening announcements included a reminder for the upcoming retreat that will start at 7 pm on Friday, July 18, and end about noon on Sunday, July 20, at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. The annual retreat is a great opportunity for serious work on the music, plus a chance for members to meet and socialize with each other and get to know more names to go with the faces we see each week. The two coaches for the weekend will be Darin Drown from Denver, CO, and Cy Wood, our frequent performance coach from Ohio. There will also be a ceremony to present the 2024 distinguished service awards for the Collective. Rumor has it that the Class of 25 is working on a skit for the Saturday night party!

Future chapter meeting locations were confirmed: the meeting on July 15 will be at Beth El Synagogue, July 22 back at AlexRenew, then  July 29, AACC will be singing in Old Town Alexandria and passing out recruitment flyers for the next Capital Force youth ensemble. Joe also alerted members of plans for the August 5 and 12 meetings when there will be more work on getting each singer up-to-the-mark for the current songs.

The AACC black t-shirts are available for just $10 each. Contact Terry Reynolds before the next chapter meeting so he can bring one to you to have for the chapter retreat. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed this week’s list of guests including some folks present who will be guests on the trip to Ireland like Jerry Caudrilli, from Richmond. Returning guests included Donald Medor, Robby Bernard, and Alaina Forte. First time guests included Charlie Garlow, Lisa Venbrux, Carri Nelson, Hank Turner and Darci Horne. Maggie McAlexander directed the chapter welcome song.

After a brief vocal warm up session, Joe asked the Class of 2025 to step forward and present their red bandanas.  Ooops – one member forgot – and so he had to answer three questions from members on the risers such as ‘what is your favorite season’ and ‘when did you grow your mustache.’

At this point the two choruses started work on their songs for the trip to Ireland which will also be music for the fall season. Each ensemble got time on the risers to practice choreography. 

To wrap up the night, Joe worked with the combined ensembles on “Parting Glass” arranged by Steve Tramack. Soloists for this song will be announced next week. 

Recently, Tessa Walker spoke to the chapter about helping spread the word to high school students about the upcoming formation of another Capital Force ensemble as part of AACC.  She will help create forms and flyers for the project that will be part of sing outs in coming weeks including two specific events, Aug 23^rd and Sept 6^th, that will be dedicated to finding new youth singers. 

Joe added this week that active AACC members will be needed to assist with the Capital Force ensemble for their meetings on Sundays from November to February in all aspects of the operation – both musical and administrative.  Watch for a Sept. 2025 survey to offer your inputs.  

The rehearsal wrapped up with “Keep the Whole World Singing,” directed by Samantha –  wearing her new bronze quartet medal!  The fun afterglow was at the Harmo House for tag singing, pizza and snacks. 

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 77^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 June 24, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter

   Looking Back on the June 24, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter 

Attendance was great this week despite the 100 degree heat in the area; and there was lots of enthusiasm, and proof that members worked-at-home on the music!!

Both ensembles worked on a lot of songs in preparation for future performances as part of the Ireland trip and for the fall show. 

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, lead a warm up session for the combined ensembles of AACC.  Then artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed everyone and thanked all those who had attended last week’s sing in Old Town. He also thanked Ashley Merryman for the top-notch sign that was used to tell audiences that this was the AACC

Future chapter meeting locations were confirmed: there will be no meeting on July 1 in Alexandria while many members and families are in Denver for the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) annual contest and convention; the meeting on July 8 will be at AlexRenew; and the meeting on July 15 will be at Beth El Synagogue. 

On July 29, AACC will be singing in Old Town Alexandria and passing out recruitment flyers for the next Capital Force youth ensemble. 

All singers of the Collective are reminded to  register and make payment to attend the annual retreat scheduled for July 18-20 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Online registration began on Wed. June 4. (Registration and payment is due by July 1.) It is also important for one person in each group of attendees to make sure coordinator, Craig Kujawa, knows who is planning to share room/suites.

The annual retreat is a great opportunity for serious work on the music, plus a chance for members to meet and socialize with each other and get to know more names to go with the faces we see each week. The two coaches for the weekend will be Darin Drown from Denver, CO, and Cy Wood, our frequent performance coach from Ohio. There will also be a ceremony to present the 2024 distinguished service awards for the Collective. Great food, relaxing housing on campus close to the meeting space, casual dress, a modest drive up into MD, and always fun. 

The AACC black t-shirts are available for pick up if you ordered one, or for purchase if you still need one.  Just $10 each. Get your shirt from Terry Reynolds by contacting him so he can bring one to the chapter retreat. 

To start off the singing this week, Joe worked with the combined ensembles on “Parting Glass” arranged by Steve Tramack. Note that there was a recent Slack message for anyone interested in auditioning for solo spots in that song. See Tony Colosimo for details. 

Before the ensembles went to their own rehearsal space, Joe took time to recognize the six quartets from the chapter that will be singing in the BHS contest in Denver. It is exciting that our chapter, and our Mid Atlantic District (M-AD), have qualified a record number of quartets for this year’s contest season. (The contest sessions will be Live Streamed and Ye Ed has heard of several members who might be hosting a watch party.) The chapter proudly supports the following competitors in Denver (listed here in singing order) – Singing 4^th – HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher, Kevin Mendez, and David Breen; Singing 16^th – SUPERNOVA with Maggie McAlexander and Tessa Walker; Singing 21^st – FIRST TAKE with Andrew Havens and Tony Colosimo; Singing 25^th – LEGACY with Rick Taylor; Singing 28^th – BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Suranjan Sen, Joshua Myers and Dan Krackhardt from NY filling in for Ryan Mextorf who celebrated the birth of a new child for their family in recent weeks; Singing 60^th – GQ with Samantha Tramack.  

Singing 1^st in the Next Generation  Varsity Quartet contest is THE QUIN-TONES with Julian Leflore. Julian is also directing the True North Chorus from Delaware, singing 34^th in the chorus contest. 

Other quartets from M-AD include BEST WISHES, GIMME FOUR, SECRET BEST FRIENDS with former Harmonizer Will Daniel Simmons, SMOKE RING, and PRAT STREET POWER with former Harmonizer Ed Schubel.  Other M-AD choruses in the contest include Parkside Melody, Voices of Gotham, Sirens of Gotham, and East Coast Sound.

Great cheers for all of our competitors in Denver!

Back to this week’s chapter meeting report: Tessa Walker spoke to the chapter about helping spread the word to high school students about the upcoming formation of another Capital Force ensemble as part of AACC.  She will help create forms and flyers for the project that will be part of sing outs in coming weeks including two specific events, Aug 23^rd and Sept 6^th, that will be dedicated to finding new youth singers. 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Suckow, with help from Jared Liscinsky, gave out membership renewal cards to six AACC members – Hannah, Carey, Jacob, Tyler, Craig and Ken Rub with the longest member renewal with 34 years. Members continued the tradition of one clap for every year!!

President, Craig Kujawa, was wearing a number of leadership hats at the meeting.  One as chair for the gift card sales effort/fundraiser.  He recognized several members who are helping the chapter reach its goal for the year and presented them Starbucks gift cards.

As president, Craig announced a major change in the chapter’s weekly 50/50 drawing program.  For many years, half of the money went to a member with a lucky ticket, the other half went to the M-AD Endowment Fund.  (The chapter has donated nearly $19,000 to that fund.) Alan Wile, who manages the drawing, proposed a change where a member still gets some of the proceeds and the Endowment Fund gets some but then after a set total to M-AD, the remaining funds go to the chapter. Stay tuned for more details as it is repeated in the weeks ahead. (BTW – Alan was not at the meeting this week and was missed by all – he was helping to care for his older brother.)

Membership director, Jacob Broude, announced this year’s Class of 2025 – to carry on a long-standing tradition of forming a class of the new members since the last class was recognized.

  Each member of the class was presented a red bandana that they are expected to wear at all times – rehearsals and gatherings of the chapter. The bandanas were created by Tyler Carpenter and have both the Harmonizer and the Metro Voices logos on them. Jacob and Tessa gave each class member his or her bandana.

The AACC Class of 2025 was announced with the following members from Metro Voices -Hannah Drobac, Adele Jones, Annie Ermlick, Katie Raimondo, Nerissa Yiu, Christine Pan, Holly Perdue, Heid Brown, Shira Perlmutter, Leah Bernstein, and Diane Morrical; and the following members from the Harmonizers – Brendon White, Suranjan Sen, Ian Trent, Rob Santine, Josh Berenhaus, Alex Edwards, Tanner Perdue, Rob Stark, Brigham Blackhurst, AJ Gupta, Patrick Horne, Michael Snow, Jackson Byrd, Maumen Alshea, and Devin Turner. That large class will likely have a great skit prepared for the Retreat weekend finale show!! They will also be eager to always have their bandana or “face some consequences” according to old timers!!

Jacob also welcomed this week’s guests – Don Medor was back, and Alaine Forte was back after having been to the sing out last week. First time guests were Matthew Derouse and Robert Della Bernard. Peter Wilson from the Saratoga Springs, NY, Chapter was in town, and Greg Tepe came by to see everyone. Great to see Duncan Peacock back on the risers this week too. Jason Lee directed the chapter welcome song.

At this point the two ensembles met in different rooms; however, president Craig met with all new members to discuss leadership support needed for the chapter.  

The Harmonizers used the larger room with risers.  There were words of appreciation to Joel Golden who helped prepare a useful video of the visual plan as taught by Cy Wood recently. Similarly, there were thank you messages to Turner Arndt for preparing written descriptions of the moves and presentation points for “Come Follow the Band.” Tony directed the rehearsal and Turner kept the chorus “on task” for the visual plan.

At some point, Metro Voices moved to the risers for their work including some chorus lineup placements. Reporter Annie Ermlick reports that they worked on “Somewhere” with assistant director, Maggie McAlexander.  Samantha Tramack, their director, directed the work session on “Where You Lead/Together We Can.” Finally, Tessa Walker started teaching choreography to Metro Voices for their uptune – “World Here I Am.”

The Harmonizers dedicated their rehearsal time to cleaning up the rhythmic aspect of  “Africa.”

All singers wrapped up the evening with “Keep the Whole World Singing,” directed by David Breen. A good crew made it to the Harmo House for afterglow tag singing, pizza and snacks, and lots of visiting and story-telling. 

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 June 17, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Sing in Old Town; and Harmony College East Weekend

 Looking Back on the June 17, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Sing in Old Town; and Harmony College East Weekend 

Great to have so many singers from AACC at Market Square in Alexandria for the kickoff of another sing and walk through the area of restaurants and shops in Old Town.  There was a lot of enthusiasm and fun for singers who were met with large crowds along the route including at the Torpedo Factory and in the area along the banks of the Potomac.

Artistic director of AACC, Joe Cerutti, directed a warm up session for the ensemble to run though the songs planned for the evening – “Happy Together” for Metro Voices, “Africa” for the Harmonizers, and “I’m Still Standing” for the combined ensembles. During the evening, “Hey Jude” was added with Matt Ambler as soloist, and “Defying Gravity” with Samantha Tramack as soloist along with Tony Colosimo. Kudos to the soloists who had to sing over airplanes landing and taking off from National Airport!

 There were some guests with the chorus this week including Alena visiting Metro Voices; Howard Nestlerode back to see everyone; and Craig Kujawa back after being gone to support his mother after her recent falls. Julian LeFlore was at the sing out as was Charlie, the lead in Maumen’s quartet. 

After all the mini-shows at the various stops, the group adjourned to Chadwicks for an afterglow. It was a fun wrap-up to the evening!! Singers wore their black AACC t-shirts with summer attire for the evening (and carried some umbrellas – which must have been the secret that kept the predicted rain away all evening).

All singers of the Collective are reminded to  mark their calendars and plan to attend the annual retreat scheduled for July 18-20 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Online registration began on Wed. June 4. (Registration and payment is due by July 1.)

The annual event is a great opportunity for serious work on the music, plus a chance for members to meet and socialize with each other and get to know more names to go with the faces we see each week. The two coaches for the weekend will be Darin Drown from Denver, CO, and Cy Wood, our frequent performance coach from Ohio. There will also be a ceremony to present the 2024 distinguished service awards for the Collective. Great food, relaxing housing on campus close to the meeting space, casual dress, a modest drive up into MD, and always fun. Stay tuned for signing up – talk up car pools and plans for that weekend.  Plus expect a few team building surprises from the music team and chapter leadership. 

A significant number of AACC members attended Harmony College East (HCE), June 12-15, 2025, at McDaniel College, Westminster, MD.  HCE is a major event of the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). A long list of AACC members were on the staff or faculty for the weekend including deans for the weekend, Bill Colosimo andSheryl Berlin.  Also the team included Joe Cerutti, Tony Colosimo, Mike Fasano, Mike Kelly, Julian LeFlore, Rick Taylor, Mike Wallen, Dave Welter and Alan Wile. Several quartets with active AACC members were there including FIRST TAKE, HARMOHAUS, and BELTWAY; and quartets with former members including SECRET BEST FRIENDS and SMITTEN.  The Fairfax, Arlington, Red Bank and West Chester choruses were there for coaching too. Cy Shuster, Don Johnson, and Sam McFarland were there with Fairfax and sang on the show. Bill Colosimo was emcee for the evening shows during the weekend. Patrick McAlexander (Maggie’s brother) was guest director for the HCE chorus during the weekend, and gave the keynote address at the opening session. His remarks are on the HCE YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/-APt0VDf63U?si=M2GuCUc6O_z08wW5.”  Thanks also to those members who did behind-the-scenes work like risers and sound and golf-cart driving, and airport runs for staff and out-of-district attendees! Alan Wile reports a significant total for the Mid Atlantic Endowment Fund collected during the weekend. 

The AACC black t-shirts are available for pick up if you ordered one, or for purchase if you still need one.  Just $10 each. Get your shirt from Terry Reynolds by contacting him so he can bring one to a meeting for you before the chapter retreat in July. 

In other chapter news from the past week or so, condolences to former community board member, Bob Faherty, whose wife, Claudia, died last week after a brief illness.

Congratulations to Jackson Byrd for his vocal recital this past weekend at The United Baptist Church in Annandale.

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 June 10, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the June 10, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting 

There was another big crowd of singers on hand for the June 10 chapter meeting at AlexRenew as members prepare for the trip to Ireland, the retreat, the fall district contest, and the International contest in Denver. Many of our quartet singers are busy practicing and having coaching sessions in advance of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International contest and convention in Denver. 

Thanks to the earl-bird crew of AACC members who pitched in to set up risers for both ensembles at 6:30 pm for the rehearsal time.  The Harmonizers were given tentative riser placements on the risers.

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, conducted the vocal warmup session for members of the Harmonizers and Metro Voices.   Artistic director of AACC, Joe Cerutti, made several announcements for the chapter’s upcoming events and programs.

Joe congratulated Ashley Merryman for her article in US News which included a plug for AACC and singing as a hobby.  He also congratulated Maggie McAlexander and Kevin Mendez who were engaged recently. 

He also recognized all the quartet members headed to Denver from the chapter – 10 percent of the quartets in the first round at that contest will have AACC member singers! He promises info about possible viewing sessions during the convention for those of us still in the DC area and unable to be in Denver.  There will be no chapter meeting on July 1.

Next week the AACC will sing in Old Town Alexandria again with emphasis on recruitment during the evening. It all starts at 7 pm at Market Square.

Joe was eager to share news of a recent agreement between AACC and the Alexandria Children’s Chorus (thanks to Ken Rub who initiated the discussion after an Alexandria Arts Commission meeting). Basically, the two groups will both promote and recruit youth singers (they for sixth grade and under; we for older students). 

This is key to the AACC efforts to gear up recruiting for the next Capital Force ensemble.  Director Tessa Walker and Joe have announced that there must be at least 15 singers in that ensemble. 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Suckow, presented a membership renewal to Patricia Chow for three years. 

Chapter leadership encouraged all singers of the Collective to mark their calendars and plan to attend the annual retreat scheduled for July 18-20 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Online registration began on Wed. June 4. (Registration and payment is due by July 1.)

The annual event is a great opportunity for serious work on the music, plus a chance for members to meet and socialize with each other and get to know more names to go with the faces we see each week. The two coaches for the weekend will be Darin Drown from Denver, CO, and Cy Wood, our frequent performance coach from Ohio. There will also be a ceremony to present the 2024 distinguished service awards for the Collective. Great food, relaxing housing on campus close to the meeting space, casual dress, a modest drive up into MD, and always fun. Stay tuned for signing up – talk up car pools and plans for that weekend.  Plus expect a few team building surprises from the music team and chapter leadership. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, presented new member name tags to Devin Turner and Diane Morrical. First time guest this week was Regina LaValley, Catherine’s sister. Returning guest was Don Medor. Adam Afifi andJulian LeFlore were on hand this week too; and Cy Wood was at the meeting to coach the Harmonizers and present a performance plan for “Come Follow The Band.” Assistant director of the Harmonizers, Terry Reynolds, directed the chapter “Welcome Song.”  

The song run-down for the Harmonizers work this week included “Africa,” and “But The World Goes Round” with review and drills of stage moves. Tony and Cy worked with the front row while the chorus worked on those too songs. Then front row returned to the risers for Cy’s coaching session for “Come Follow the Band.”  It is a terrific and fun performance package that will be the Harmonizer contest uptune in the fall.  

Metro Voices leadership team held another strong rehearsal with work on ”How Far I’ll Go” with a push to get new members to get used to the self-recording process in the chapter. They also continued their good work on “Somewhere” with a goal to have the music down, for the most part, by next week. They also worked on “World Here I Am,” and “Happy Together.”  

We will all be on the look-out for news from the many AACC members who will be attending  Harmony College East (HCE), June 12-15, 2025, at McDaniel College, Westminster, MD.  Likely, many of our quartets that are going to Denver will also be at HCE to sing for fellow barbershoppers. 

The AACC black t-shirts are available for pick up if you ordered one, or for purchase if you still need one.  Just $10 each. Get your shirt from Terry Reynolds by contacting him so he can bring one to a meeting for you before the Old Town sing event or the chapter retreat in July. 

In other chapter news from the past week or so, congrats to Bill Colosimo on his recognition as retiring director of the Alexandria Singers after about 18 years at the helm as musical director. The Singers celebrated their 50^th anniversary with shows at Bishop Ireton High School, June 6 and 7. A number of AACC members attended to celebrate with fellow community performers. 

 After the 50/50 drawing organized by Alan Wile at this week’s Collective meeting, Cy directed “Keep the Whole World Singing” before another large crowd of members adjourned for tags and refreshments at the Harmo House. The summer weather made visiting outside on the deck especially fun.

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 June 2, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting and the May 31 Honors Flights at DCA

 Looking Back on the June 2, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting and the May 31 Honors Flights at DCA

The AACC singers were pleased to provide cheers and singing to welcome four Honor Flights when they arrived at Reagan National Airport on Sat. May 31 at 8, 9, 10 and 11 am. E. J. Herold from the chapter coordinated AACC support with the local volunteers from the Honor Flight Network. AACC has a personal connection to this work as Harmonizer Matt Ambler’s husband, Matt Shuman, is Chair of the Board. 

 

The flights brought veterans to DC for a visit to the memorials of their conflicts and others as well as sightseeing in the nation’s Capital. They originated from White Plains, NY; W. Palm Beach, FL; Madison, WI; and Indianapolis, IN. During their stay in DC, the groups visited the memorials, fed a meal and then returned back to the airport to return home; quite the day, indeed. Despite their dwindling number, there were actually a couple World War II Veterans among the flights with mostly Korean and Vietnam Veterans to make up the groups.

 

About 20 singers were on hand for Terry Reynolds to direct in singing patriotic tunes as the plane loads of veterans arrived. The chorus wore the black AACC t-shirts and sang with music in black folders, as needed, provided for the occasion. 

The June 2 chapter meeting was at AlexRenew and started with a major warm up session for all ensembles conducted by associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo.  He included work on an old tag, “What a Day – What an Unusual Day.”  He also shared a funny story about a singer asking him “what’s the deal about onion skins?” 

Artistic director for AACC, Joe Cerutti, welcomed several folks to this week’s meeting:  EJ Harold back from work travel; Mike Fasano attending to prep the music for Ireland; Clyde Crusenberry back to sing; Don Thompson back to sing; Mireille Kouagou back to sing; Julian LeFlore on hand to sing and see friends; and Tessa Walker, a busy music educator back to sing. Joe offered Happy Birthday wishes to Norm Barth; and introduced Maumen Alsheakh who was recognized in the recent Harmonizer magazine and presented him his new AACC nametag.

Joe reminded everyone about the 50^th anniversary concerts of the Alexandria Singers at Bishop Ireton, 7:30 pm Friday, June 6, and 2 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, June 7.  It will also be honoring the retirement of Bill Colosimo, who has directed the group for just over 18 years. 

After those announcements, Joe worked with the AACC singers on “The Parting Glass.” Part of the work time, Matt Ambler met with the leads for some detailed work. 

Before moving into the separate ensembles, Stan Quick, chapter executive director, announced the farewell of chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpartick, who has moved to Marshall, VA.  She was a great asset to the operation of the chapter, especially at the time of the addition of the new ensembles. 

Chapter leadership encouraged all singers of the Collective to mark their calendars and plan to attend the annual retreat scheduled for July 18-20 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Online 

registration began on Wed. June 4. (Registration and payment is due by July 1.)

The annual event is a great opportunity for serious work on the music, plus a chance for members to meet and socialize with each other and get to know more names to go with the faces we see each week. The two coaches for the weekend will be Darin Drown from Denver, CO, and Cy Wood, our frequent performance coach from Ohio. There will also be a ceremony to present the 2024 distinguished service awards for the Collective. Great food, relaxing housing on campus close to the meeting space, casual dress, a modest drive up into MD, and always fun. Stay tuned for signing up – talk up car pools and plans for that weekend.  Plus expect a few team building surprises from the music team and chapter leadership. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed five returning guests:  Devin Turner, Diane Morrical, Carl Parkin, Brigit Gilvary, and Amaris Whitaker. First time guest this week was Grace Walker; and Ron Silver, former member in 1979, was in town for work from Portland, OR.  Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices, directed the chapter “Welcome Song”  (and was wearing her new engagement ring from Kevin Mendez. Congrats to them both!).

There was another new member orientation session this week with Joe as presenter who spoke on the topic “Learning Music from Home.”

The song run-down for the Harmonizers work this week included “Parting Glass,” “Come Follow The Band” in order to be ready for performance coaching, “Africa,”  “Impossible Dream;” and “But The World Goes Round” with review and drills of stage moves.  Tony directed some of the songs and Joe the rest. 

Metro Voices reporter, Annie Ermlick, shared that their director, Samantha Tramack, worked on “Where You Lead, Together We Can” that was arranged by Maggie.  Then Maggie worked on “Somewhere.” There was duet work on “ How Far I’ll Go” and Samantha taught the basses some cool percussive sounds and dynamics. Tessa helped the ensemble leadership to keep on schedule and where to meet for sectionals. 

Here is a reminder that registration for Harmony College East 2025 closes on June 5! Reserve June 12-15, 2025, for the best District barbershop school ANYWHERE! Briefly, here are the particulars: WHAT: Harmony College East 2025; WHERE: The beautiful campus of McDaniel College, Westminster, MD; WHEN: Thursday, June 12 through Sunday, June 15, 2025. 

The AACC black t-shirts are available for pick up if you ordered one, or for purchase if you still need one.  Just $10 each. Get your shirt from Terry Reynolds by contacting him so he can bring one to a meeting for you before the Harmony College East event or the chapter retreat in July. 

Also, members are encouraged to offer their input for new songs for the year ahead as we honor and recognize the 250^thanniversary of the United States and the 25^th anniversary of 9/11. Brad Jones, chair of the repertoire committee, issued guidelines for making suggestions via Slack.

The chapter meetings will be at AlexRenew June 10 with Cy Wood present to coach the Harmonizers for “Come Follow the Band,” and June 24; with another sing in Old Town on June 17.

 President Craig Kujawa used a Slack message to encouraged more AACC members to sign up for a Raise Right Fundraising account.  The chapter is making progress to earning the goal of $5000 for the year via this program. 

After the 50/50 drawing organized by Alan Wile at this week’s Collective meeting, Devin Gerzof directed “Keep the Whole World Singing” before members adjourned for tags and refreshments at the Harmo House.  This week’s crowd was large and they ate a lot of pizzas and birthday cupcakes for Norm!

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.