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 76th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)
The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.
