Looking Back on the May 19, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting
AACC singers were eager to get back on the risers and work on their contest packages and show songs. As usual, things started at 7 pm. The warm up session was conducted by Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, at Beth El Synagogue.
Meetings for the following weeks will be at AlexRenew - May 26 (Steve Armstrong will be coaching the Harmonizers that night), June 2 and June 9. Looking ahead - the traditional send-off performance for family, friends and patrons prior to the chorus going to an International contest will be Tuesday, June 23, at Beth El, 3830 Seminary Rd.
After the warm up, artistic director Joe Cerutti led a quick sing/review of “We Will Be One” and “Defying Gravity” with Christine Pan debuting for the solo. These songs will be part of the 20-minute AACC paid performance for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) evening banquet on May 23, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Attire for this performance will be AACC formal. Call time will be 7 pm.
Joe welcomed chapter friend and coach, David McEachern, who was in town to work with the Harmonizers on their contest package. David will stay in town for the special coaching event for the Harmonists on Saturday, May 23 (before the singout for TAPS). He will be joined by coaches Steve Armstrong and Cy Wood. This special coaching session will be at Fairlington Presbyterian Church only for the Harmonists and other characters until noon, then from 1-5 pm, the rehearsal will be open for all chorus members to observe, to offer inputs, and to get a feel for the total package. NOTE: an entrance code to get into the building will be sent out via Slack.
The Harmonizers worked with David on “Stars in the Night” but performed the complete package a few times with narration and all characters. He coached the Harmonists as well as the larger chorus to involve the audience in the song and significant message.
Metro Voices worked more on their contest package as well as reviewed the songs that will be used on the AACC chorus appearance for TAPS.
One new business item for all: the AACC chorus has been invited to entertain at the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) Midwinter convention in Virginia Beach, VA, in February 2027. Singers should watch for the form on Slack to sign up for this special opportunity for Thursday, Feb. 4, 2027.
Another addition to the schedule is the outdoor performance at Nottoway Park in Vienna, VA, on August 20, as part of the Fairfax County Park Authority summer concert series.
There are a number of business announcements to report again this week:
The annual chorus retreat has been scheduled for June 5-7 at AlexRenew. Terry Reynolds shared that the following time frame is likely for those who need to make plans: Friday from 7 to 10 pm; all day Saturday 9 am to 10 pm; and Sunday 9 am to noon. Coaches for this year’s retreat will be David McEachern and David Drown for the Harmonizers, and Blair Brown and Patrick McAlexander for Metro Voices. As a reminder, Harmonizers will bring their all black contest attire to wear on Saturday night of the retreat when they sing the package for Metro Voices (and chapter team can check the fit and appearance of the choices that members made). Metro Voices will sing their package for the Harmonizers too.
Chapter leaders have begun to organize an exchange of volunteers with the Alexandria Singers for ushers and ticket sales at shows, and similar tasks. Stay tuned to sign up and help,
Registration for the chapter’s Japan trip in 2027 is now open. During the trip, the AACC chorus will make a guest appearance at the Japan Barbershop Convention in Yokohama, August 22-23. Trip coordinator for AACC, Brad Jones, suggests sending any further travel questions to AACCJapan2027@gmail.com.
President Craig Kujawa suggested it was still possible for members to buy gift cards to use in paying for their hotel room at the contest in St. Louis – those card purchases earn cash for the chapter. Contact Craig if you have not purchased your cards.
Two AACC members, Bill Colosimo and Sheryl Berlin, are deans for the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Harmony College East (HCE) – a weekend barbershop educational opportunity on 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.
Here is a report from E.J. Herold about the two Honor Flight sing-outs the chapter has this spring. On May16, a group of AACC singers (17 strong – 14 Harmonizers and 3 Metro Voices) welcomed American veterans from Kalamazoo, MI, and West Palm Beach, FL, to Washington, DC. Our first flight scheduled for 8 am arrived early so it was good that the singers arrived on time for the early 7 am call. The 9 am flight was on time.
The Honor Flight organization brings veterans to Washington to tour the monuments to their service and receive recognition for their uniformed service from a grateful nation. The flights are met by musicians (e.g. AACC), local business (today’s group was the Mitre Corporation), families, and other groups. An announcement is made in the terminal inviting those travelers nearby to come to the gate and cheer the arrival of veterans from WWII, Korea and Vietnam as they deplane for their day in DC. The enthusiastic crowds cheered for the veterans and even applauded our warm-up songs!
The repertoire included “America the Beautiful,” “Armed Forces Medley,” “God Bless America,” “This is My Country’ and ‘You’re a Grand Old Flag.’ Deplaning veterans sang along as they recognized their service songs or some of the other selections. Though the numbers are dwindling, we saw a couple of WWII Vets among the visitors, in addition to Korea and Vietnam Veterans.
Terry Reynolds directed the effort and the entire group was uplifted by the thanks of the veterans and the crowd. AACC has one more performance this season on May 30.
Jacob Broude recognized returning guests this week including Dana Wooster, Elizabeth Halford, and Mike Zelno. First time guest was Soham Ray, who was in the area visiting his family. He sings with the Fog City chorus in California. Terry Reynolds, assistant director of the Harmonizers, led the AACC in singing the chapter welcome song for all the guests.
Jacob also launched the traditional new member class for 2026. He presented red bandanas to eight Harmonizers and blue bandanas to two Metro Voices. As the custom goes, the new members will be expected to have their bandana every time the ensemble meets. A complete list of the Class of 2026 will be provided in a later edition of Looking Back after the entire class is announced.
To wrap up this week’s meeting, each ensemble had their own finale to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing.” Metro Voices finished early and then the Harmonizers ended with tag singer and quartet singer/guest, Ben Hawker directing. There was a big crowd of singers at the HarmoHouse for lots of pizza and visiting and comparing notes about the music – and the new gadget in the living room at the HarmoHouse!
There are some great reasons to share recent congratulations for AACC members: Brendon White has gotten engaged to Ruth Catlett recently!! Jackson Byrd has a solo senior voice recital May 30th at the Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria at 2 pm – it’s also his graduation celebration! Devante Lucasdirects the Rappahannock Choral Society and they are having their spring concerts. SUPERNOVA quartet with Maggie McAlexander and Tessa Walker received a wildcard invitation to compete in the International contest this summer in St. Louis!! And three members have been invited to the judges category school on their way to certification as official BHS judges – Maggie McAlexander, Terry Reynolds and Tyler Carpenter. Hurray for all!
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 78th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)
The Chapter Mission Statement: Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.
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