Looking Back on the Nov. 25, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting
AACC held their pre-Thanksgiving chapter meeting at AlexRenew in Old Town Alexandria. A good crowd was present with a number of guests which included friends and relatives in town for the holiday. Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, mentioned several times how pleased he was that so many members were able to attend this week. The rain was a challenge and there were major delays in traffic this week making it hard for members to get to the meeting.
"Special note to recipients of this Looking Back release who've been supporters of the Harmonizers (and now the Collective) for years to decades. We invite you to please consider supporting us this Giving Tuesday with a small donation to help us continue with our exciting creative plans for 2026. Even small gifts of $5 or $10 make a difference, and giving is easy via our Giving Tuesday campaign page: https://givebutter.com/AACCGivingTuesday2025. Thank you, as always, for the myriad ways you help to grow our impact!
Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, led warm up exercises for the AACC chorus before the two ensembles went to separate rehearsal space to work on holiday show songs. Both groups were driven to get off the paper before next week, and the directors most often worked on small sections of songs or hot spots that needed some cleaning up.
The chapter’s holiday shows are scheduled for Friday December 12 at 8 pm, and December 13 at 7:30 pm, both at the Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street. Call time for both shows is 5:30 pm for all AACC singers. Uniform for both ensembles for the holiday show will be all black dressy with red and/or green accents. If there is a question, contact Becca Williams.
Catherine LaValley announced lots of details and logistics that members will need to know regarding parking options for members with thoughts about how members could get their family to the show. She filmed the chorus in action with the many holiday sweaters and scarves as part of her effort to promote the show. She emphasized the need for members to each sell five more tickets to the shows. We are not sold out yet!
Tickets for the shows, “Follow the Season,” are now available via Eventbrite.
Ashley Merryman spoke about the need for announcers for the show. Catherine is seeking members who could dress warm and manage the parking area for the shows.
Joe kicked off the business session for the meeting with a fun question as to who would be traveling the farthest for the Thanksgiving holiday. The guests from California took the top prize!
Joe reminded all the singers that there are just two rehearsals left before the shows.
Then he reminded members about the need to stimulate participation by friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, or customers to make donations to the chapter’s credit (even $5 or $10) for Giving Tuesday on Dec. 2. All members were emailed more details and suggested copy for emails or other appeals to seek donors. In plain words, it is important for the chapter to have a large base of donors/supporters so that larger donors see the worth in giving also.
Samantha Tramack, director of Metro Voices, reported on the many members who participated in the Harmony, Inc. convention recently.
Mary Cooper welcomed and signed in guests this week: Josh Frakes who found us on line; Devante Lucas; Billy Ermlick; Josh and Ashley Golden, friends of Suranjan Sen; Anna Santine, Rob’s sister; and Hunter Brown, Heidi’s son. Two members were back with us this week – Chuck Hunter and Cadence Flaherty.
Looking ahead: On Dec. 2 the chapter meetings will be back at AlexRenew. Sunday, Dec. 7 some members will sing holiday music for Blue Star Families in Falls Church. Then the Dec. 9 meeting will be back at Fairlington Presbyterian prior to the shows.
AACC will have their traditional holiday carol sing again in Old Town on Tues. Dec. 16. There will be no rehearsals on Dec. 23 and 30. The Jan. 6 meeting will be the traditional kickoff session for the 2026 year and also the chapter’s next Put Together Quartet Contest – as the name implies, members are encouraged to “put together” a quartet and enter the fun. Usually some BHS friends are the judges. Rules and details to come soon.
The meeting ended after Joe worked with the AACC chorus on the three songs they will sing on the show – “Welcome Christmas,” “Gloria,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Soloists are welcome to submit tapes to Tony for the last one of those songs
There was a big crowd of members and guests at the afterglow this week since many had the next day off or were already enjoying the holiday.
In other news about chapter members, several AACC members attended a weekend get-away in the Poconos for the annual meeting of DelaSusqueHudMac – the honor chapter of the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Current president is Mike Wallen and current treasurer is Bob Eckman. The two newest members from our chapter are Jerry Candrilli and Ken Rub. David and Sandy Wright were VIP guests. BELTWAY was one of the guest quartets for the weekend along with SMOKE RING and GIMME FOUR. Several chapter members serve on committees for DELA (as it is often referred to) – Mike Kelly, Steve White, Bill Colosimo, Tony Colosimo, Joe Cerutti, Dave Welter and Dennis Ritchie. DELA recognizes members who have provided outstanding leadership and service to M-AD.
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 77th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)
The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.
