Looking Back on the Jan. 21, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

  Looking Back on the Jan. 21, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting 

Another good crowd of members and guests were at the Jan. 21 chapter meeting of AACC at Beth El Synagogue.  Members were eager to sing again and there were folks working on their new music in an adjoining room with Calvin Schnure before the 7 pm start time. The extreme freezing temps did not seem to deter attendance or enthusiasm.

Assistant director of Metro Voices, Maggie McAlexander, conducted vocal warm ups for the combined ensembles of AACC.  She taught a tag that was used then by associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, in a class on the Musical Standards for AACC. 

Tony first welcomed everyone, reported that Joe was on travel this week, and thanked Tyler Carpenter for his leadership and work to organize last week’s Put Together Chapter Quartet Contest.  It was one of the best ever!

Tony also alerted members about the Feb. 15 plans for the Capital Force ensemble’s first concert. All singers should report by 2:30 pm prior to the 3:30 pm show at the Masonic Memorial in Alexandria. There will also be an appearance at an Honors Flight banquet that evening.  Stay tuned for all details.

Similarly, the chapter has gotten a request for an appearance at the Danish Embassy residence on Feb. 20.  Sign-ups looked good, so here again, stay tuned for details.

As a reminder, the chapter will meet the next two weeks at AlexRenew. Note that the Feb. 4 meeting will be an official guest night. Current members are encouraged to invite guests – not just those who want to sing, but those who would be good support team members or leadership helpers for an arts organization. 

The major points Tony made about the Standards for AACC included advice about breath, risk, intonation and contribution.  He spoke and explained his points on those four topics. 

Then the two ensembles adjourned to work on their music.  Metro Voices with Samantha Tramack worked in the fellowship hall on “World Here I Am,” “After You Who,” and “It’s the Music That Brings Us Together.” The Harmonizers with Tony worked in the sanctuary on “Come Follow the Band,” “Toyland,” “Calling Dreams,” and “Rockin the Boat.” 

Abut 9 pm, everyone gathered in the sanctuary for a business meeting. President Craig Kujawa spoke about the chapter’s fundraising activity - Scrip. He will be promoting more participation with the incentive of a Starbucks gift card distribution plan.  Stay tuned to participate.

Craig also is seeking a chapter member or a small team of members to take on Contest/Convention planning (the task Craig held prior to his moving into the presidency).  Any interested members should talk to Craig as soon as possible.

Executive director, Stan Quick, reminded members to turn in their media release forms to membership director, Jacob Broude. 

Music team admin coordinator, Terry Reynolds, reports that schedule and details about the annual interview process for all singers will be released to all in the coming days. 

Steve White spoke about the DELASUSQUEHUDMAC honor chapter (often called DELA) for leaders in the Mid Atlantic District of the BHS.  He invited all those members present at this week’s chapter meeting to come forward (on any given Tuesday you could find a good number of DELA members at a meeting of the AACC) to welcome the newest Alexandria member of DELA, Ken Rub.  Congratulations to Ken! Fellow chapter member, Mike Wallen, is currently president of DELA, and Bob Eckman is treasurer. 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Krukowski, presented BHS membership renewal cards to the following members: Cary Fagerstrom for 2 years; Heidi Krukowski for 2 years; Samantha Tramack for 6 years; EJ Herold for 9 years; Tessa Walker for 13 years; Stan Quick for 13 years; Bruce Roehm for 24 years; Mark Klostermeyer for 44 years; and Steve White for 48 years. 

Tyler Carpenter welcomed guests this week and new member Tanner Perdue.  The first time guests were Patrick Horne, Brigham Blackhurst, Melodie Stehling, and Michael Snow.  Returning guests were Robert Stark, Christine Pan, Muamen Alsheakh and Julian LeFlore.

Alan Wile was on hand for 50/50 sales again this week and his helper, Walt Page, was back on deck to help!  Good to see Walt with us this week!

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 Jan. 14, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

  Looking Back on the Jan. 14, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting 

A good crowd of members and guests were at AlexRenew in Old Town Alexandria for the kickoff of the 2025 chapter year for AACC.  A chapter Put Together Quartet Contest was also part of the evening so there were quartets gathered all around the meeting spaces in preparation for their entry.

Terry Reynolds welcomed all attendees for the start of another great chapter year. He posted the outline for the business session on the screen for all to see.  Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, started things off with announcing the 2025 music team: Joe continues as artistic director for AACC; music team admin, Terry Reynolds.  The Harmonizer team includes Joe as primary director, Tony Colosimo as associate director, and Jason Lee as assistant director.  The section leaders will be Randy Lazear and Lance Fisher for tenors, Matt Ambler for leads, Jared Liscinsky for baritones, and Calvin Schnure for basses, with Tyler Carpenter as section leader admin and Turner Arndt and Bruce Roehmas visual team leaders. Ben Watsky and David Breen were thanked for their service last year as section leaders. 

Samantha Tramack continues as primary director for Metro Voices with the following music team members: Maggie McAlexander, assistant director; Elisabeth Cosh, tenor section leader; Sophie Clarke, lead section leader; Callie Cirillo and Sheryl Berlin, baritone section leaders; and Leah Musico, bass section leader.

Tessa Walker is primary director for Capital Force youth chorus, and Terry Reynolds will be primary director for Vintage Blend senior (55),  all gender, daytime, chorus. 

Chapter leaders then spoke about the schedule or calendar of events for the year ahead. Some highlights: a guest night, Feb. 4 at AlexRenew; the Capital Force show on Sat. Feb. 15 at the Masonic Temple – both ensembles to sing; also that day, a possible sing by the combined chorus for the banquet recognizing volunteers for the Honor Flight program. The second annual gala will be March 1 with an Irish theme. The formal partnership with DC Public Schools event will be on Friday, Mar. 7. 

The Southern Division contest weekend will be at Towson University, March 21-22. Goal is for both ensembles to sing there and at the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) fall contest. Oct. 3-4,  too.

Two education night programs will be held for all chapter members Tuesday, March 25 and Aug. 19;  plus the big fundraiser event, Spring2ACTion, and a cabaret will be Wed., April 9. The chapter will appear as part of the anniversary concert for the Alexandria Choral Society, May 9.

The annual chapter retreat will be July 18-20 for prep for the fall show, the trip to Ireland, and for general fellowship.  The Ireland trip will be Aug. 4-12 – Brad Jones is coordinator. 

Another fellowship event for the Harmonizers with Alfred Street Baptist Men Choir will be held Oct. 8.  The chapter holiday shows will be Dec. 13 and 14.

New president Craig Kujawa introduced his fellow board members for 2025: Vice President: Ashley Merryman; Secretary: Cy Shuster; Treasurer: Terry Reynolds; Members at Large: Carolyn Griffin, Mary Cooper, Michael Berkson, Betsy Mullins, and Cody Leihgeber-Carpenter. Craig also spoke about the priorities and goals for the year ahead, and he said, “My goal is for members to know what we do, and why - and how to do it and to share and help with doing more.  It involves more of us to step up and help.”

General Manager, Stan Quick, reminded all attendees of the chapter’s Mission: “Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.” He provides leadership for the chapter operations team: 

General Manager – Susan Fitzpatrick

Artistic Director – Joe Cerutti, Jr.

Music Team Admin – Terry Reynolds

Membership Director – Jacob Broude

Contest Director – Craig Kujawa

Chapter Secretary – Heidi Krukowski

BHS Chapter Finance Director – Dave Welter

AH Inc. Finance Director – Carl Kauffmann

Communications Director – vacant

Director of Shows – Doug White

Operations Director – Gary Cregan

Education Director – Sheryl Berlin

Volunteer Activities Director – vacant

Archivist/Historian – Don Harrington

Development Director – Ken Rub

Ken Rub, director of development, spoke about the major plans for this aspect of the chapter operation and announced the goal of raising $148,000 for 2025. (Last year we raised $135,200.) Ken stressed that members should always consider asking friends, relatives, coworkers, contacts or neighbors to support and donate in addition to their own member donations. In fact, he suggested each member should set a goal as to how many dollars he or she would raise for the chapter!

He also added some details about the fun gala – theme will be ‘Emerald Affair’ with guest quartet, SECRET BEST FRIENDS; and guest emcee, Jim Henry, director of the Ambassadors chorus and popular Harmonizer coach.  

Both Joe and Samantha spoke about the repertoire for the two ensembles in the year ahead with plans to bring back some songs, add some new arrangements, and add some patriotic music in preparation for a major chapter event in 2026.

Joe encouraged members to step up to help with delivering Singing Valentines in Alexandria – usually one or two quartets are formed and make appearances that are scheduled by chapter leaders such as for the major or senior living places or hospitals. 

At this point in the evening, there was a 15 minute break to reset the room for the Wilbur Sparks Memorial Put Together Quartet Contest.  The first Put Together was held in 1973 when Wilbur offered to help anyone who wanted to try quartet singing find three other members to sing with. He called himself, Dr. Put!  It has continued nearly every year since then.  

This year’s contest was organized by Tyler Carpenter.  Judges for the event where the MENTAL NOTE quartet with members from the Richmond and Alexandria chapters: Jeff Mauro, tenor; Scott Beach, lead; Jerry Candrelli, baritone; and Mike Geipel, bass. They sang for the audience while the scores were tabulated.

There were 14 quartets in the contest with all sorts of combinations of members from one or both of the ensembles in AACC.  The judges presented medals to the top three quartets in the comedy category and in the standard category.

Third place in comedy was BIGINNER’S LUCK with Carey Fagerstrom, Catherine LaValley, Dana Richardson and Jared Liscinsky. Second place was BARBERSHOP BUBBLERS with Joel Golden, Carl Kauffmann, Calvin Schnure, and Samantha Tramack. First place was LATE ENTRY with Brian Ammerman, Lance Fisher, Joe Golden and Calvin Schnure.

Third place standard quartet winner was STARK CONTRAST with Samantha Tramack, David Breen, Robert Stark, and Christine Pan.  Robert and Christine were guests at the meeting. Second place was earned by GUYS FIERI with Josh Myers, Ryan Mextorf, Suranjan Sen and Robert Stark. First place quartet was YOUR CHILD MAY CRY with Ryan Mextorf, Ian Trent, Kevin Mendez and Robert Santine. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, was emcee for the contest.  He also welcomed new member, Herissa Yiu, plus the guests for this week including Robert and Christine, along with Holly Perdue and Muamen Alsheakh.  Terry Reynolds directed the “Welcome Song.” 

Alan Wile did the 50/50 drawing – there were three prizes this week.  Two tickets to a Washington Choir Concert won by EJ Herold, a new AACC ball cap won by Joe Cerutti, and the cash won by Ashley Merryman. 

Joe invited folks to the Harmo House for an afterglow and directed “Keep the Whole World Singing” to end the fun evening.

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.