Looking Back on the April 28, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting
Wow, the chapter achieved its goal of raising $30,000 in donations for the 2026 Spring2ACTion (S2A) project last week. The chapter participated in the City of Alexandria organized project for non-profits in the community on Wed. April 22. The chapter went over the $30.000 mark mid-morning on Friday, April 24. Thanks to the major donors including significant matching gifts to prompt donations. Great work by all AACC members to “make the ask” and succeed. This year’s S2A had some challenges as compared to previous years, but leaders made it work. The S2A program awarded the chapter $500 for having the most donors for the 3-4 pm “power hour.” Thanks to Ken Rub for taking the lead this year along with Randall Eliason to coordinate the chapter efforts.
At this week’s chapter meeting, Ken thanked all members for their efforts to achieve the goal. He called on Craig Kujawa to be recognized for his efforts to get donors from his many contacts and Craig took a couple minutes to explain how he made it happen. Ken also announced the winners of the competition among AACC chorus sections for adding the most donors: basses placed third, leads and baritones tied for second place, and tenors placed first.
The chapter’s Culture Leadership Triad (Becca Williams, Kellen Hertz and Matt Darouse) organized a social event to celebrate on Wed. April 22, after the full day of watching donations roll in. Dana Richardson hosted an open house at her home in the Fort Hunt area, and about 25 members attended – half from the Harmonizers and half from Metro Voices. Attendees had to have created a S2A page to attend and if you didn’t have one, Becca helped them create one. According to Kellen, there were games and contests including a pie-in-the-face from Mireille Kouagou to good sport Joe Cerutti. The team brought goodies and ended the evening with some fun sing-a-long time with Christine Panproviding piano accompaniment.
AACC singers continued their hard work on music and choreography this week for contest and shows. To kick things off, Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, led the warm up session for all. He continued the work on “A Place on the Risers for You,” the song used when a person is leaving the AACC. To help members get “into the song.” Tony had the singers “connect with someone around them on the risers.”
A riser crew set up things for the 7 pm start and after the warm up session, Metro Voices used the risers and the Harmonizers went to the meeting room at AlexRenew. Patricia Chow reports that Metro Voices spent their time on the risers working on integrating choreography with singing technique for “Me and the Sky” with particular attention paid on keeping a solid tempo. Next they rehearsed in duet sectionals (leads and tenors, basses and baris) to work on “Yes I Can.” They ended their rehearsal with runs of their contest set.
The Harmonizer rehearsal started with “I’m Just a Bill,” then moved to “Stars in the Night,” and then moved to choreography for “Harmony” – this choreo rehearsal was divided into groups based on the singers’ self-assessment as to readiness. The Harmonists for the set worked separately on choreography.
Regarding the work on choreography for the package, Harmonizers should work to get up to snuff in that area. They are required to video themselves by May 9.
Mid-evening, the two ensembles met together on the risers for a brief business session. As a reminder, chapter meetings the next two weeks will be at AlexRenew.
Matt Darouse, representing the Culture Leadership Triad, announced their team’s invitation for a pre-glow event for singers on the second Tuesday of the month – 6pm gathering at Lost Boy Cider, 319 Hooffs Run Dr., Alexandria. Bring your own food from nearby food spots.
He also announced a new plan to have goodies for the third Tuesday night of the month chapter meeting – sign up for bringing them will be in Slack.
A major show opportunity has come to the chapter for Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. It will be to sing at a major evening banquet event for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). There have been enough singers that signed up, but everyone who is available should sign up via Groupanizer. The combined AACC chorus will fill this 20 minute time slot. (The Harmonizers sang for the group in 2020.)
At a recent meeting, Sheryl Berlin promoted registration/attendance at Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity organized by the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD). It will be June 18-21 at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Individual singers are encouraged to attend too, maybe take voice lessons, or attend as a quartet with three other singers. Registration can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com.
Registration for the chapter’s Japan trip in 2027 is now open. Send any questions to AACCJapan2027@gmail.com.
Here is a reminder of the two Honor Flight dates the chapter will be singing at this spring – May 16, two flights; and May 30, three flights. Call time both dates will be 7 am at Reagan National Airport. Repertoire songs will be sung in the existing men’s key. Folders of the music will be provided. Uniform will be the AACC t-shirt or a plain black t-shirt, and slacks. Singers need to update their availability on Groupanizer.
Tyler Carpenter recognized the newest AACC member, Sarah Lott. Returning guest this week was Dana Wooster.First time gust this week was Elizabeth Halford. Member Geoff Berman was in the hall this week too. Terry Reynolds led the AACC in singing the chapter welcome song for all the guests.
A breakout for new member orientation was held at this time – Terry taught the session about barbershop contests.
On Memorial Day Saturday, the main coaches for the Harmonizer contest set will be here to coach the “Harmonists” and other characters for the Harmonizer’s contest package. The morning session is closed to just those players. Then, later - although it is not a mandatory event - chorus members are encouraged to attend mid-afternoon to observe, give feedback and understand the vision.
After the announcements, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices moved back into separate rehearsal rooms to continue their rehearsal work. Tony worked with Turner Arndt to review/drill choreography with the Harmonizers on the risers. Props were used too. Tony thanked Randall Eliason for providing the narration for the set, and Turner for helping singers perform the plan.
To wrap up the evening, the ensembles met back together for any final announcements, a count for pizza slices for the afterglow at the Harmo House, and then the usual 50/50 drawing before “Keep the Whole World Singing.”
Members and fans of the Harmonizers will appreciate this “behind-the-scenes” look at the efforts the chapter is taking to explain and bring to everyone’s attention, the story of the Comedian Harmonists - the message of the chorus contest package this year. Thanks to Alex Chen for explaining the work that has gone on so far to promote and explain the package.
The Harmonizers Take the Campaign Online
If you have been following the Harmonizers' preparations for the BHS International Convention in St. Louis, you already know the story behind this year's contest set. But this year, the chorus is doing something a little different in the weeks leading up to July 3. They are bringing that story to a wider audience through a structured social media campaign running through the end of the season.
The campaign launched in early April and runs three posts a week on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube -- Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The Tuesday posts follow the Harmonizers' rehearsal journey. The Thursday posts tell the history of the Comedian Harmonists’, the German close-harmony ensemble whose story inspired the “Harmony” musical on Broadway and the set itself. The Sunday posts share curated content from outside sources -- archival footage, podcast episodes, and clips from the show -- to give audiences the full picture.
Joe Cerutti, artistic director of the AACC and director of the Harmonizers, is the creative force behind the effort. The campaign was his idea, born out of his conviction that the Comedian Harmonists' story deserves to be known by every close-harmony singer in the world -- and that the BHS International Convention audience is exactly the right place to start. Randall Eliason has been reviewing and approving every post before it goes live.
The campaign is a volunteer effort. Alex Chen, a former marketing consultant and friend of the organization, is leading the content strategy and drafting. Mike Kelly is handling video production and editing. Bruce Roehm, Calvin Schnure, Noah Van Gilder, Joe, and Randall are helping distribute the posts to Facebook communities across the barbershop, Broadway, and music history worlds.
A highlight so far is a video Joe recorded sharing the origin story of the set -- the Broadway show he almost didn't see, the library in New York City, and the moment that convinced him the barbershop world needed to know this story. It is worth ten minutes of your time.
Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1478803983908216
The Harmonizers are also building out their YouTube channel, where the full videos from Joe, Steve Armstrong, and the singers portraying each of the six Comedian Harmonists will live.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSKQpZ7jzmDR6soM7QK16A
For those on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandriaharmonizers/
The Harmonizers' Facebook page is the primary home for the campaign. Follow along at facebook.com/harmonizers.
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.
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