Looking Back on the April 9, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Successful spring2ACTion

 Looking Back on the April 9, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Successful spring2ACTion

CONGRATULATIONS to the members of the AACC for their success at raising over $30,000 (and exceeding the chapter goal) during the Spring2ACTion fundraising event. 

Spring2ACTion is the city of Alexandria’s annual day of giving that raises several million dollars for local nonprofits. This was the 15th year of S2A, and over the past decade it has become the AACC’s most significant fundraising event of the year. All day on April 9 (and in the days leading up to it) the members were promoting the campaign to their friends and families and co-workers through email, text messaging, and social media. The AACC’s success during the day also earned us additional prize money for having the most donors and dollars raised during a designated “Power Hour” from 3-4 pm and for having the third highest number of donors for organizations of our size.

There was a large pool of money used to match donations during the day – those matching dollars came from chapter members and friends and totaled $9,750.  Those generous gifts gave our campaign a big boost.

Kudos to chapter development director, Ken Rub, for steering the event and to general manager Susan Fitzpatrick for handling the promotion and social media posts and other logistics. It was fun to watch the tally all day and to see donations from members who live far from Alexandria now, and chapter friends who still support our programs to bring music to the Metro Area. It was also great to see so many members join in the event and especially the many Harmonizer and Metro Voices members who participated for the first time.

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 April 8, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

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

There were a lot of singers present this week and artistic director, Joe Cerutti, was excited to have so many members and guests on hand to make music.  He said, “We can always make great music when everyone is together.”  It is great to see so many new singers come join us – both former barbershop singers and those who were eager to sing or perform and found AACC on YouTube.

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, did an extensive warm up session for the entire AACC chorus. Then Joe welcomed some folks and reported on some things.  First, he is better but still had a lingering cough. He eagerly welcomed Clyde Crusenberry back with us.

Joe welcomed his pal and former quartet tenor with Joe prior to the Harmonizer years, from New Hampshire, Matt Mercier. And Joe recognized Jackson Bird who has just finished his appearance in his school performance of “Grease.”

Finally, Joe reported that Bruce Roehm won the men’s basketball contest, and Callie Cirillo won the women’s contest.  Joe also claimed that he had out-scored Tony for the third year in a row (but it was revealed Tony didn’t even enter this year!!  Sooooo?) 

Members should mark their calendars for the May 9 appearance at the Alexandria Choral Society’s anniversary concert.  They invited several groups to sing and that included both Metro Voices and the Harmonizers. The AACC combined ensemble will sing “I’m Still Standing,” “Defying Gravity” and “Hey Jude.” There will be aa finale song that all singers will perform together and AACC members will be on their own to prepare for that. 

Next week, AACC will gather at City Hall at 7 pm in Old Town and then walk around to sing for crowds there.  A mini sort of show will be done on the covered stairs at the Torpedo Factory. The  group will sing the same songs that will be used on the May 9 gig, as a rehearsal. 

The April 22 and 29 meetings will be at AlexRenew.

At this point, Joe was eager to get the members singing.  First up was “Hey Jude” with Matt Ambler doing the solo. 

Then the two ensembles worked on their music.  

The Harmonizers adjourned for sectionals to work on the new Irish song, “The Parting Glass.”  New members met separately for one of their orientations – this one on the history of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) and the Alexandria A Cappella Collective.  Terry Reynolds facilitated this session.

Annie Ermlick reports that Metro Voices section leaders worked on “Somewhere” from “West Side Story.” That was followed by the whole ensemble singing it with time to make recordings to submit. And then they worked on their contest song. 

The two ensembles came back together for some business items: (1) any chapter quartets interested in filling requests that the chapter gets for singing gigs should contact Frank Fedarko to confirm their interest and be sure he has their contact information. (2) Calvin Schnure and Callie gave a pep talk on Harmony Brigades – another opportunity to sing barbershop in the Mid Atlantic area. One opportunity is coming up Aug. 8-10 in Wilmington, DE.  There are scholarship for these events too – speak to Calvin about them!

President Craig Kujawa shared a success story of how Randall Eliason used scrip to earn a major addition to the chapter’s funds.  Randall made it sound pretty easy.  Secondly, Craig shared a message from past president, Ken Fess, who made a charitable donation to the chapter as a result of his managing his Required Minimum Distribution matters as part of Federal Income Tax programs. Thirdly, Craig reminded members that although we do not pay chapter dues, the decision to eliminate those dues was made so that more members could afford to join us; but that those who could,  would donate their dues (or more) – about $100.  Fourthly, Craig confirmed the chapter will try to bring in the most donors for spring2ACTion between 3-4 pm on Wed. April 9 – in hopes of getting the prize for the most different donations by any nonprofit. He also thanked those current and former members who donated funds for an almost $10,000 matching fund. 

Becca Williams presented a paper on new uniform plans for the AACC.  It included details of options and colors to add as accents. Watch for your own copy of the paper that was projected on the screen. 

As a reminder, the Honors Flights will be on May 31 in the morning.  Watch for more details.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed returning guests Heidi Brown, Susan Friel, Max Demers, Jackson Byrd, and Stephanie Byrd. First time visitors were Donald Medor and Matt Mercier.  Maggie McAlexander directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.”

  

After the business meeting, the two ensembles met to work on their own materials. 

 

The chapter will also have some current or former members singing in quartets at the Northern Division/International prelims contest, April 25-26 in New Jersey, including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

The evening ended after the drawing for the 50/50 about 10 pm, followed by “Keep the Whole World Singing” directed by lead section leader, Matt Ambler.

Great to see so many new members for both ensembles at the division contest: basically all of Metro Voices were in their first contest.  For the Harmonizers, there were nine first timers – Rob Stark, Ian Trent, Suranjan Sen, Josh Berenhaus, Jimmy Miotto, Brandon White, Brigham Blackhurst, Rob Santine, and Tanner Perdue. 

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 April 1, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 1, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

AACC members were on hand in big numbers this week in order to work on some new music and especially for all the new members who want to learn other repertoire songs.

The music team was hampered a little but they managed in fine style with Tony Colosimo on travel and Joe Cerutti, artistic director, sick at home.  Assistant director of the Harmonizers,  Jason Lee, did the warm up session for the combined AACC chorus. Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices, assisted. Terry Reynolds, music team admin and assistant director of the Harmonizers, kept things rolling just great. 

After the warm up period, Samantha Tramack, director of Metro Voices, directed the combined ensembles for a solid rehearsal for “Defying Gravity” with Maggie offering coaching advice to the singers. Following that, Jason worked with the group on “Hey Jude.” These two songs plus “I’m Still Standing” will be the AACC chorus songs for a May 9 choral appearance in Alexandria.

(Thanks to operations director, Gary Cregan, for his work to get platforms for directors of both ensembles to stand on when the singers are not on risers.)

There was a brief recap of the recent appearance of a group from Metro Voices who sang at a Virginia anniversary of the Association of American University Women.  Samantha was director for the appearance at the Sheraton in Old Town Alexandria.  The group sang four songs for the AAUW social event.

The AACC will meet at AlexRenew on April 8, 22 and 29.  On April 15, there will be a walking sing out in Old Town Alexandria. Stay tuned for more details.

Chapter president, Craig Kujawa, reports that our current amount earned by members buying and using gift cards in our fundraising program is at $1900 – only about 38% of the chapter’s goal by the end of the fiscal year.  He can explain to new users or put them in touch with other chapter members who are frequent supporters of this activity.

He also reported that at their recent meeting, the chapter board approved new bylaws as required by the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) for every chapter that is a registered corporation. One aspect of our bylaws approved the option to allow membership of any singer (not just men, as was previously the case for the Harmonizers), and the option to have three community representatives on the board (we received a waiver from BHS to have more than two).  Craig brought this to everyone’s attention so that more members know the behind-the-scenes operation of a large, successful chapter like AACC.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, presented name tags to two new members: Michael Snow and Leah Bernstein. Returning guests were Heidi Brown, David Niemi, and Susan Friel. First time guests were Laura Rutledge and Max Demers. Harmonizer Dan O’Brien was visiting the chapter from his home in California. Terry directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.”  

There was a clarifying announcement that the Honors Flights will be on May 31 in the morning.  Watch for more details.

After the business meeting, the two ensembles met to work on their own materials.  Reporter, Annie Ermlick, submitted this report from Metro Voices:  in addition to work on the new Irish tune, Metro Voices had a party in the board room area to celebrate their contest experience. Cake and sparkling cider were gifts from Maggie and Samantha. The discussion centered around the scores earned.  Maggie, a candidate judge for BHS, explained many details and comments the judges in Towson made to the chorus.  The Metro Voices also celebrated the support from the Harmonizers at the convention. 

A major discussion point centered around the report that the arranger of “After You, Who?” (Carole Prietto) was in Towson and some folks spoke with her and have heard from her. Carol was thrilled with the performance and honored to have her arrangement treated with such respect and quality on the stage.  She was also surprised since no one had alerted her that our ensemble would be singing that arrangement. 

The Harmonizers took time to view their Southern Division contest appearance video.  Jason and Terry moderated comments from members about the appearance and hints at next steps – especially considering the plan to add another layer of performance to the package (“Toyland” and “Come Follow the Band”) for the fall district contest. 

After that, Jason helped the Harmonizers work on “Wonderful World.” 

Then the Harmonizers worked in sectionals for the new Irish song – “The Parting Glass” which will be sung with Metro Voices.  Current section leaders are Randy Lazear and Lance Fisher, tenors; Matt Ambler, leads; Jared Liscinsky, baritones; and Calvin Schnure, basses. The sections came back together for the Harmonizer chorus work on the song. 

The chapter will also have some current or former members singing in quartets at the Northern Division/International prelims contest, April 25-26 in New Jersey, including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

The evening ended after the drawing for the 50/50 about 10 pm, followed by “Keep the Whole World Singing.” 

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 March 18, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the March 18, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

The AACC ensembles continued working on their music this week, at Beth El.  They are both preparing for the Southern Division competition this weekend, March 21-22, in Towson, MD, at the University of MD Kaplan Concert Hall (8000 York Rd.). The quartet contest starts early – 4 pm on Friday afternoon.  The chorus contest starts at 9:30 am Saturday morning and the quartet finals round starts at 7 pm. 

Metro Voices sings 9^th and the Harmonizers sing 12^th in the chorus contest. 

Here is the singing order for all the quartets with AACC members or former members or family members in them:

 

Singing first – SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT with Jim Lake

Singing second – MENTAL NOTE with Scott Beach and Mike Geipel

Singing third – BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth Colosimo, Heather Havens, Tony Colosimo, and Andrew Havens

Singing fifth – BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Suranjan Sen, Josh Myers, and Ryan Mextorf

Singing sixth – THE ELDERLY BROTHERS with Mike Wallen

Singing eighth – INSTAGRAMPS with Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White

Singing tenth – HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher. Kevin Mendez, and David Breen

Singing thirteenth – FANTASTIC 4 with Chris Susalka and  Heidi Brown, daughter of Anne Ermlick

Singing fifteenth – FIRST TAKE with Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens

Singing nineteenth – HEART AND SOUL  with Bob Mattes

Singing twenty third – SUPERNOVA with Tessa Walker and Maggie McAlexander

There is a good body of information about going to the Southern Division contest – a slide set is in the Water Coolerchannel - on Slack.  It is especially informative for new members, but even experienced members would benefit from this info.

The two ensembles met separately at the start of this week’s meeting. 

For the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, associate director,  started the warm up, and asked newly appointed assistant director, Jason Lee, to finish the exercises. Tony conducted the rehearsal time as he will be directing the Harmonizer chorus at the Southern Division while artistic director, Joe Cerutti, is on International travel this week.

Tony worked on “Wonderful World” and then on the contest songs – “Toyland” (arranged by Ed Waesche) and “Come Follow the Band” (arranged by Steve Tramack). Zak Sandler helped coach the singers in their performance skills for the songs. 

Terry Reynolds, music team admin leader, and Tony facilitated the official riser placements for the Harmonizers before they performed their contest set for Metro Voices.  That performance earned a lot of cheering and applause!

Terry reminded members that the call time is 9:30 am at the concert hall – dressed and warmed up ready to sing.  It was also stressed that singers should plan to arrive early enough to pick up their convention registration because they must have it before going on stage. The Harmonizers will go into the contest seating area to cheer for Metro Voices, then adjourn themselves to finish their warm up preparation. He also announced that the chapter has been invited to sing on the Saturday night show, and that both ensembles will sing as part of their stage time. That might mean a change in travel plans for those driving up and back on Saturday.

Both Terry and Tony encouraged members to sit in on as much of the contest as they can, and shared that everyone is welcome to stay for the judges chat with the choruses about their judging category.  The sessions usually happen right after the contest results are announced.

For Metro Voices, they started Tuesday night using the risers to prepare for their stage time at the contest.  Riser positions were created last week when assistant director, Maggie McAlexander, lead a session on identifying timber of the singers’ voices (based on the work the chorus had done with their coach a couple weeks ago). She met with each section of the chorus and had individuals sing, and she then assigned that person an “instrument” label for their sound – strings, woodwinds and brass. Tony assisted in the riser placement plan.

Maggie did warm ups this week and welcomed Cadence Flaherty back from college to sing at the contest with Metro Voices. Director, Samantha Tramack, worked on some fine tuning points for their contest uptune, “World Here I Am” (arranged by Patrick McAlexander).  Their ballad will be “After You, Who” (arranged by Carole Prietto). For part of the evening, the chorus also worked on their other repertoire songs.

For sure it was great for Metro Voices to perform the set for their fellow AACC members and celebrate the growth and terrific development of Metro Voices. 

Here are other recent announcements that members should know:

(1) The Harmonizers will sing the Honors Flight event on April 26. Members should sign up to confirm their availability.

(2) The Alfred Street Baptist Choir  folks have invited the Harmonizers to sing at the tribute event for Dr. Joyce Garrett, Aug. 2 at 5 pm in Fort Washington, MD.  She was instrumental in the outreach to have the Harmonizers and the men’s choir at Alfred Street Baptist launch their many years of fellowship and musical celebrations. She was honored by the chapter as recipient of the Harmony Award in 2018.

(3) The March 25 meeting will be at AlexRenew – it will be an education night with a variety of sessions to learn more about barbershop harmony and the chapter. 

(4) We will also have some quartets singing in the Northern Division/International prelims contest  April 25-26 in New Jersey including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

(5) The cabaret planned for the evening of the spring2ACTion fundraiser has been cancelled because no venue could be found for the event. 

President Craig Kujawa took a minute to explain the chapter’s 50/50 drawing – one half goes to the member with the winning ticket, and the other half goes to the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Endowment Fund, per a letter of appreciation from Endowment Fund promoter, Alan Wile. He reports that the chapter’s support of the fund for the year is over $1100.

Craig announced that the next chapter board meeting will be Thursday, March 20, at 7 pm, at AlexRenew.  Any member is welcome to attend.

Again this week, Mary Cooper welcomed the guests to the meeting: Patrick Horne, Shira Perlmutter, Leah Bernstein, Holly Perdue, Karen Kouagou, and Nathanial White. She also presented name tags to the two newest members – AJ Gupta and Brigham Blackhurst. Welcome all!

Two of the chapter quartets sang their contest set this week – great job BELTWAY and HARMOHAUS

The evening ended at 10 pm with Jason as director for an especially enthusiastic “Keep the Whole World Singing.” There was no afterglow at Harmo House.

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 March 11, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting; Report from DCPS Youth Event

 Looking Back on the March 11, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting; Report from DCPS Youth Event

The active AACC ensembles are busy working on their music for the contest cycle starting with the Southern Division competition in mid-March. This week each ensemble did a warm up session of their own.

Artistic director. Joe Cerutti, had the following announcements for all AACC members: (1) The interview process is wrapping up and “take aways” will be coming soon to the chapter.  

(2) The Harmonizers will sing the Honors Flight event on April 26. Members should sign up to confirm their availability.

(3) The Alfred Street Baptist Choir  folks have invited the Harmonizers to sing at the tribute event for Dr. Joyce Garrett, Aug. 2 at 5 pm in Fort Washington, MD.  She was instrumental in the outreach to have the Harmonizers and the men’s choir at Alfred Street Baptist launch their many years of fellowship and musical celebrations. She was honored by the chapter as recipient of the Harmony Award in 2018.

 (4) The March 18 chapter meeting will be at Beth El, and the March 25 meeting will be at AlexRenew – it will be an education night with a variety of sessions to learn more about barbershop harmony and the chapter. 

(5) There is a good body of information about going to the Southern Division contest – a slide set is in the Water Coolerchannel on Slack.  It is especially informative for new members, but even experienced members would benefit from this info. The call time for both ensembles will be 9 am – singers should arrive vocally ready to sing and dressed for the stage.  The Harmonizers will go cheer for Metro Voices when they go on stage, then Harmonizers will return to the meeting room to prepare for their stage time. All singers are welcome to attend the Feed Back sessions after the scores are announced (also it is a good opportunity for new members to get a feel for how the judging system works). 

(6) Joe also saluted the many quartets that will represent our chapter at the contest in Towson. It’s been a while since the chapter has had so many quartets with current or former members or family members from the chapter. Here is the lineup for quartets singing at the Southern Division/International Prelims contests in Towson, MD, at the University’s Kaplan Concert Hall (8000 York Rd.), March 21-22. 

Singing Order:

Fri night mic tester – SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT with Jim Lake

Singing second – MENTAL NOTE with Scott Beach and Mike Geipel

Singing third – BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth Colosimo, Heather Havens, Tony Colosimo, and Andrew Havens

Singing fifth – BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Suranjan Sen, Josh Myers, and Ryan Mextorf

Singing sixth – THE ELDERLY BROTHERS with Mike Wallen

Singing eighth – INSTAGRAMPS with Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White

Singing tenth – HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher. Kevin Mendez, and David Breen

Singing thirteenth – FANTASTIC 4 with Chris Susalka and  Heidi Brown, daughter of Anne Ermlick

Singing fifteenth – FIRST TAKE with Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens

Singing nineteenth – HEART AND SOUL  with Bob Mattes

Singing twenty third – SUPERNOVA with Tessa Walker and Maggie McAlexander

 

We will also have some quartets singing in the Northern Division/International prelims contest  April 25-26 in New Jersey including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

The two ensembles then met to work on their contest packages – the Harmonizers used the risers with Tony Colosimoas director and Joe Cerutti as coach; and Metro Voices used the sanctuary space with Samantha Tramack as director and Maggie McAlexander as coach.

 

Before the two ensembles changed locations with Metro Voices on the risers, chapter executive director,

 Stan Quick, conducted the chapter meeting. Announcements included word that Dave Ermlick is under doctor care currently.  

The cabaret planned for the evening of the spring2ACTion fundraiser has been cancelled because no venue could be found for the event. 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Suckow, with help from Jared Liscinsky, presented membership renewal cards to Mary Cooper, 3 years; Maggie McAlexander, 11 years; Noah Van Gilder, 17 years; and Don Thompson, 32 years. 

Mary Cooper welcomed the guests this week. First time guest was Tamara. Retuning guests included Patrick Horne, Shira Perlmutter, AJ Gupta, Leah Bernstein, Michael Snow, and Julian LeFlore. Maggie directed the chapter “Welcome Song.” Editor’s note: a sharp new chapter membership recruitment brochure was available on the admin table at the entrance this week. 

Sheryl Berlin thanked all those AACC members who helped with the DCPS youth festival. She had leftover water bottles for anyone who wanted one. (See full report below.)

Becca Williams explained the expected chorus apparel for the upcoming  contest: Metro Voices  - gray with blue, purple or gray accents; Harmonizers – black with gray and white (no accent colors).

The evening ended with “Keep the Whole World Singing” as the closing number. There was an afterglow at Harmo House.

In other news from the chapter, good to see Tessa Walker’s name on Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) list of presenters for webinars for music educators.  She is doing one on March 13 at 7 pm CST for 60 minutes via Zoom.  The topic is “Improving Sight Reading Skills Through Barbershop Harmony.

Friday, March 7, AACC chapter members worked together with the Music Education staff from DC Public Schools (DCPS) for a terrific all-day youth choral festival.  The event was at UDC in The Center for Theater Arts and attended by over 80 students with their music educators from seven DC schools.

 

Members of AACC helped support the event with riser crews (helpers with Gary Cregan); and snacks, pizza lunch and water (donations from members of cash and products coordinated by Mark Oswald and Randy Lazear). 

 

At 4 pm, the youth chorus sang their songs learned during the day for an audience of AACC members, parents and music educators.  The show started with two schools (Dunbar High School and Jackson Lee High School) demonstrating a tag they had learned since last year’s festival.

 

Tessa Walker was clinician for the day and directed the youth chorus and shared her pride and excitement about how well the students had learned their music in advance of the day and had worked hard all day to be ready for the show. THE QUINN TONES quartet (Jake, Julian, Tommy and Chris) was on hand to help Tessa as section leaders and coaches.  The quartet sang on the show as well. 

 

Joe Cerutti, emcee for the show, was enthusiastic in his thank you to parents and friends who came to support the student singers. Many members of AACC were on hand for the show too.  Some of them had spent parts of the day at the festival as helpers ‘as needed’ with music education, hospitality and set up, take down and clean up. AACC members who helped or attended the concert included Dean Rust, Randy Lazear, Mark Oswald, David Breen, Noah Van Gilder, Maggie Alexander, Carl Kauffmann, Gary Cregan, Sheryl Berlin, Patricia Chow, Ken Rub, Jack Pitzer, Bruce Roehm, Elizabeth Cosh, Michael Berkson, Kevin Mendez, Tony Colosimo, Cy Shuster, and Becca Williams. Students were given a souvenir water bottle to celebrate their efforts for the day. 

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 March 4, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the March 4, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

The March 4 meeting at AlexRenew was a busy one for the two active AACC ensembles. 

Artistic director. Joe Cerutti, was coaching in Hawaii, so music team admin, Terry Reynolds, got each ensemble started with Samantha Tramack doing warm ups for Metro Voices and Maggie McAlexander doing warm ups for the Harmonizers.  Samantha stayed “up front” with her chorus and associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, made it in just after 7 pm after directing the band at his school to fill in for a work colleague in the music department.  Both ensembles worked on their contest music.

Terry made these announcements about AACC schedule and events: first - the Gala on March 1 was a great success and he thanked development director, Ken Rub, for his efforts to make it all go well. Second – interviews will be done this weekend. Third – stay tuned for sign-ups to sing on the Honors Flights events April 19 and 26 (baritones are needed for these appearances. Fourth – the next two week’s meetings will be at Beth El and likely last until 10 pm to add additional rehearsal time. A riser crew is needed for those two weeks. Fifth -  the third week will be at AlexRenew and will be an education night where the evening will be divided into presentations for anyone to attend and then switch to another topic. Sixth – the major youth sing with DC Public School will be Friday, March 7.  A riser crew is needed on Thursday night.  Donations are still accepted for snacks and water – get to Mark Oswald or Randy Lazear.  All members are encouraged to come to the free wrap up concert on Friday at 4 pm at UDC to support the youth.  Tessa Walker will be dean of the event. Seventh – Becca Williams spoke with both ensembles about attire for the contests in Towson. Eighth – secretary Heidi Suckow has published an important reminder to all members that any singer on the contest stage must be paid up on their BHS dues, and must have a convention registration.

Anne Ermlick provided the following report from Metro Voices: At last night’s Metro Voices rehearsal, director Samantha. and her leadership team, explored key techniques from last week’s coaching session with Peter Cunningham. Members made personal recordings of the audition song and a fresh arrangement of "Somewhere" from West Side Story, led by assistant director, Maggie. 

Following a period of sectionals, the chorus worked on three technical skills—legato, timbre, and pitch accuracy—through targeted exercises. As they transitioned between the skills sessions, each group built upon the previous skills, fostering a deeper understanding of musicality. Moreover, the emphasis on peer feedback and personal reflection culminated in a collective spirit of growth and pride. 

In another room of AlexRenew, Tony was in charge of the rehearsal for the Harmonizers and began with work on “World Goes Round.” The ensemble next worked on “Toyland.” Zak Sandler continued a discussion of emotions and how to show them as relates to “Toyland.”  That work will continue each week. 

Then there was a major section of the rehearsal time used for “Come Follow The Band, ” followed by work on “What a Wonderful World.”

These rehearsals lasted until about 9:30 pm, then Stan Quick, chapter executive director, invited the two ensembles to regroup for final business items: Ken Rub had “’left overs” from the Gala bar operation for nominal prices near the elevators; Maggie reminded everyone to submit their audition tape for the cabaret that will be on Wednesday, April 9, as part of the celebration following the spring2ACTion fundraiser event (she asked for help in finding a venue for that event); members and guests should consider coming to cheer for the DCPS concert. 

Jacob Broude, membership director, announced the newest chapter member, Brigham Blackhurst.  Welcome aboard! There were ten returning guests this week: Patrick Horne, Leah Bernstein, Randy Althaus, Holly Perdue, Shira Perlmutter, Maumen Alsheahk, AJ Gupta, Daniel Huitt, Jackson Byrd and Heather Huish.  Terry Reynoldsdirected the “Welcome Song.”

The evening ended with “Keep the Whole World Singing” as the closing number. There was no official afterglow this week.  Singer noted the new stand for the director to use thanks to operations director, Gary Cregan!  

It’s been a while since the chapter has had so many quartets with current or former members or family members from the chapter. Here is the lineup for quartets singing at the Southern Division/International Prelims contests in Towson, MD, at the University’s Kaplan Concert Hall (8000 York Rd.), March 21-22. The bold faced names are affiliated with AACC. 

 

Singing Order:

Fri night mic tester – SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT with Jim Lake

Singing second – MENTAL NOTE with Scott Beach and Mike Geipel

Singing third – BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth Colosimo, Heather Havens, Tony Colosimo, and Andrew Havens

Singing fifth – BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Suranjan Sen, Josh Myers, and Ryan Mextorf

Singing sixth – THE ELDERLY BROTHERS with Mike Wallen

Singing eighth – INSTAGRAMPS with Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White

Singing tenth – HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher. Kevin Mendez, and David Breen

Singing thirteenth – FANTASTIC 4 with Chris Susalka and  Heidi Brown, daughter of Anne Ermlick

Singing fifteenth – FIRST TAKE with Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens

Singing nineteenth – HEART AND SOUL  with Bob Mattes

Singing twenty third – SUPERNOVA with Tessa Walker and Maggie McAlexander

 

We will also have some quartets singing in the Northern Division/International prelims contest  April 25-26 in New Jersey including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

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 March 1, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Gala

Looking Back on the March 1, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Gala 

 

Over 80 members and friends of the Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter enjoyed the wonderful second annual Gala event on Saturday evening, March 1.  The major fund raiser was held at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. Kudos to chapter development director, Ken Rub, who was the lead in making the event a huge success that was fun for all. Theme for the evening was ‘Emerald Affair – a wickedly Irish Gala.’  Attendees carried out the spirit and wore a great array of green and Irish attire! Table decorations created by Cathy Kauffmann added to the theme.

Special keynote speaker for the evening, was Dr. Jim Henry, a Harmonizer coach and chapter friend from St. Louis, MO, where he is director of the Ambassadors of Harmony chorus.  During his encouraging remarks about the character of the AACC chapter, he shared a message from chapter artistic director, Joe Cerutti, who was on travel and not able to attend. Jim thanked the chapter for inviting he and his wife to attend. They enjoyed some days as tourists in the DC Metro area. Jim also shared fond memories of past exchanges with the Ambassadors and the Harmonizers; and he spoke about the important history of the chapter  as part of the Barbershop Harmony Society for over 75 years. 

Special thanks go to caterer, Joan Wolford of Savoir Fare Limited, for the fantastic dinner with great service, yummy family-style main dishes and desserts, and a creative hors d’oeuvres table. The generous bar was also available all evening beginning with the opening period when attendees could make additional bids on the many terrific silent auction items.  Bidding had begun online days in advance of the Gala. 

Randall Eliason was chair of the silent auction that raised major funds for the chapter.  The rest of his team included Mary Cooper, Callie Warren and Hannah Nesich with assistance from chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick. The auction items were displayed on decorated tables in the reception area.  

During the reception period, there was great Irish music and dancing provided by the Corkers, Bobby Seay and his sister Michaela Seay.  They are offspring of the famous Seay barbershop family in the Baltimore area. 

There was a live auction item for the evening – a basket of liquors donated by the musical directors of the three ensembles in AACC. Jim Henry offered the auction item after dinner and Frank Shipp emerged as high bidder for the basket from the many competing bidders.  Angela Marty held the winning ticket for the evening’s 50/50 drawing!

Guest quartet for the banquet was SECRET BEST FRIENDS – Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) champs. Former Harmonizer, Will Simmons, who sings bass in that quartet, was sick with the flu and so David Breen sang two songs with the quartet and Jim Henry sang two.  They were great and the rich bass sounds were terrific.

Samantha Tramack thanked those who attended and expressed appreciation from leaders of all three of the singing ensembles in AACC for the support generated at this year’s Gala. Mike Kelly was on hand to provide sound for the evening. Other volunteers were Will Wittaker, David Means, Zak Sandler, Catherine LaValley.

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 Feb. 25, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the Feb. 25, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

The Tuesday, Feb. 25, meeting was at AlexRenew in Old Town Alexandria. 

Metro Voices worked with a coach, Peter Cunningham, who is a Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) singing judge and was part of a Collegiate Champ quartet with Kevin Mendez. He is from Texas. The chorus is preparing for its first official contest at Southern Division and worked on “After You, Who?” and “World Here I Am.” Samantha Tramackdirected their rehearsal session. Tessa Walker sat in on parts of the Harmonizer rehearsal in order to get the announcement information and take it in to the Metro Voices session. 

The Harmonizers worked on “Come Follow The Band,” “Toyland,” and began working on a new song, “What a Wonderful World.” Zak Sandler initiated a discussion of emotions and how to show them as relates to “Toyland.”  That work will continue next week. 

Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, conducted vocal warm ups for them. Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, expressed appreciation to the AACC members (ten Harmonizers and nine Metro Voices) who sang for the Defense Attaché Community at the Danish Ambassador’s residence on Feb. 20. E J Herold reports that they were extremely well received by the banquet guests and the Prince and Princess. Members were invited to enjoy the foods and reception as well as meet and talk to the attendees. Ambassador Jesper Moller Sorensend greeted the singers and welcomed them to his home.

The audience of 190 included defense attaches and their wives from countries around the world, plus senior civilian and military officials from the US government. Danish royalty - Prince Joachim of Denmark, brother to the King, and his wife, Princess Marie - were introduced to the chorus and many members spoke to the Prince and Princess.

There was great audience support when the singers did our National Anthem and “Armed Forces Medley” as openers for the evening.  Then, after dessert, the combined groups did a second set with songs by Metro Voices with Maggie McAlexander directing,  and the Harmonizers with Tony Colosimo directing. The combined ensembles sang “Why We Sing” and “I’m Still Standing.” Terry Reynolds did the emcee duties.  This chapter outreach effort will likely lead to other appearances at embassy events.

Next, Joe gave a final push for the chapter gala organized by Ken Rub, development director. This year’s gala will be March 1, 2025, themed “Emerald Affair, ” at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314, at 7:30-10 pm. Keynote speaker for the event is Dr. Jim Henry, director of the Ambassadors of Harmony in St. Louis and popular coach of the Harmonizers. Guest quartet will be SECRET BEST FRIENDS, current champs of Mid Atlantic District. 

Randall Eliason sent a message to all members and friends of the chapter announcing that the fund raising silent auction held as part of the gala is now open for bids. Bidding will close on Saturday evening at the Gala. Auction items include travel events, restaurants, professional services like voice lessons or piano tuning, or recreation events.

Joe shared details of the latest project by the chapter - to bring barbershop singing experience to students in the DC Public School system. There will be 136 students at the Fri., March 7, event at UDC on Connecticut Ave. at 4 pm. Tessa Walker will be major clinician for this educational event. Mark Oswald is coordinating the chapter’s efforts to collect waters and snacks for the youth event. Members can also give cash donations to Mark or Randy Lazear at chapter or bring supplies like energy bars and chips or snack packs.  Members and friends are encouraged to attend the 4 pm clinic wrap up at UDC – to help build an audience to honor the youthful enthusiasm. It’s free. 

Joe also confirmed that the annual interview process is moving along to near completion.  Finally, he confirmed that the chapter meeting will be at AlexRenew next week.

President, Craig Kujawa, served as business meeting chair this week.  

Craig encouraged members to be sure to get their registrations for the Southern Division contest in March.  Metro Voices will sing 9^th at that contest (the very first official contest for Metro Voices) and the Harmonizers will sing 12^th.  There will be a good number of quartets from the chapter in the contest too – some of our newest members are singing as quartets! Call times for the chorus members will be determined soon. He also shared word about an afterglow that weekend sponsored by three M-AD chapters.  Anyone can attend for $5.

Next, Craig introduced the members of the AACC Chapter Awards Committee. All AACC members will be invited to suggest possible recipients for the 2024 awards. This committee will collect the suggestions and boil them down to a recommended list of recipients for the chapter board. The committee includes Jack Pitzer, Bob Blair, Mark Klostermeyer, Steve White, Anne Ermlick, Carey Fagerstrom, and Charlyne “Chuck” Miller.  They will be communicating to their fellow AACC members on how to recommend recipients and what the awards are.  Stay tuned. 

Finally, Craig explained the long-standing Angel Fund that is managed in the chapter by the president.  The funds are used to assist members who need financial help for conventions, contests, travel and such.  Member should feel comfortable to speak to Craig about such needs.  And other members are encouraged to offer non tax deductible donations to the Angel Fund – donations go directly to the Angel Fund via the chapter president. 

Members were asked to submit their availability via Groupanizer to sing for two more Honors Flights  - both at 8 am. For April 19 and April 26. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, asked members to update their contact info in Groupanizer. Then he welcomed the following returning guests: AJ Gupta, Brigham Blackhurst, Muamen Alsheakh, Michael Snow, Patrick Horne, Heather Huish; and first time guests: Jackson Byrd and Stephanie Byrd.  Tony directed the chapter “Welcome Song.”

The two ensembles each ended their session with “Keep the Whole World Singing” as the closing number for the evening. Joe issued the usual invite to the afterglow at the Harmo House explaining the location and pizza-slice-count to the many guests. 

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.