Looking Back on the Oct. 6, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting and Results from M-AD Fall Contest
Both of the AACC ensembles met at Fairlington Presbyterian Church this week after a busy weekend in NJ for quartets and chapter leaders who attended and participated in the M-AD fall contest. Tuesday evening included celebration for the quartet successes at the contest.
There were six quartets with AACC members in this year’s Mid-Atlantic District quartet contest, Oct. 2-3, at the Middle Township Performing Arts Center in Cape May, NJ. Here are the results showing how successful the chapter quartets were this year:
SIDE HUSTLE with Tanner Perdue, Matt Darouse, Ian Trent and Cooper Schwartz placed 13th. (1253-69.6%)
FANTASTIC 4 with Susan Friel, Heidi Brown, Paul Grimes, and Dale Bird placed 10th. (2599-72.2%)
BREAKTHROUGH with Mike Fasano, Jordan Zimmerman, Jason Lee and Ken White placed 6th. (2682-74.5%)
ONE AND DONE with Tim Keatley, Ben Catt, David Breen (who responded to a phone call a couple days before the contest to substitute for the quartet’s baritone) and Tom Moyer placed 4th. (2729-75.8%)
SUPERNOVA with Maggie McAlexander, Tessa Walker, Amanda Potts, and Serena Davis placed 2nd. (2392-80.3%)
BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth Colosimo, Heather Havens, Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havensplaced 1st and were named M-AD champion quartet for 2027! (3050- 84.7%) The quartet was honored in a traditional ceremony as the finale of the Saturday night Show of Champions when members of the quartet champs association (M-AD ASSOCIATION OF QUARTET CHAMPIONS) sang “This is the Moment” to congratulate and honor the new champs. Steve White hosted the quartet champs reception after the show.
Here is history reflection from Steve White about the chapter’s long list of district quartet champs: The Harmonizers and Metro Voices have a rich history of Mid-Atlantic District Quartet Champions starting with the NOVA CHORDS in 1968 and now BETTER TOGETHER in 2026. A total of 21 quartet champions have had chapter members in them when they won the title. And several chapter members have won championships in other districts, regions and areas, or organizations like the Mixed Barbershop Harmony Association, Sweet Adeline’s International, Harmony Inc., and the Worldwide Barbershop Quartet Association. Quartet singing makes for better chorus singing!(The list of all past quartet champs can be found at midatlanticdistrict.com then in the history section.)
Also, INSTAGRAMPS quartet was named 2027 M-AD Seniors Quartet Champion and the district qualifier for the International Senior Contest at the Midwinter convention in Virginia Beach in February. Their title was based on scores earned at the division contest. The quartet includes Robbie Seay, Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White.
GQ, the 2026 International gold medal quartet champion, with AACC member Samantha Tramack, appeared throughout the weekend as mic coolers for the chorus contest and in a special Gold Medal Hour on Saturday to share their year so far as champs. The quartet includes Amanda Sandroni, Katie Gillis, Ali Hauger and Samantha. In addition to the district contest this past weekend, GQ sang the National Anthem for the Raven’s NFL game on Sunday.
There were several AACC members who appeared in the chorus contest as directors or as singers on the risers. The AACC choruses did not compete this year.
Also, there were a number of AACC members who helped facilitate the convention including those members who worked back stage all weekend to make the contest sessions flow smoothly including Mike Kelly, Ken Rub, andPatricia Chow. Steve Tramack and Darin Drown served on the judging panel for the weekend. Bill Colosimo was emcee for the quartet finals session on Saturday night. Steve White introduced this year’s inductee to the M-AD Hall of Honor, Jamie Patricia.
Besides celebrating the contest successes this week at the chapter meeting, president Craig Kujawa conducted the annual chapter election with these members being elected to the board of directors for 2027: President – Craig Kujawa; Secretary – Cy Shuster; Treasurer – Terry Reynolds; Community Board Members – Carolyn Griffin, Alex Chen, and Betsy Mullins (the chapter bylaws permit the election of these non-members to the board); and At-Large Board Members – Dana Richardson, and E.J. Herold.
To kick off the singing this week, assistant director of the Harmonizers, Jason Lee, led warm ups for the AACC chorus. That was followed with sectionals for “Let There Be Peace on Earth: which were followed by a work session on that song with associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, directing. He encouraged singers to have a pen or pencil or a way to take notes on their music for this nine-part arrangement by Jay Giallombardo adapted by Lance Fisher.
The chapter has added a number of new members this fall and so the orientation series continued this week with Terry Reynolds as the presenter in the church library.
There were a lot of guest singers this week again: Amanda Ridlington, David Strasser, Holly Faust, John Ferri, Andy Zane, Serena Davis, Ethan Hattingh, Naomi Takagi and Carl Pankin,, plus first time guest, Orleane Alima! Jacob Broude also introduced the two most recent new members of the chapter – Heather Blackhurst and Ben Bugajski.
Chapter secretary, Cy Shuster, presented membership renewal cards to the following members: Brenden White for 3 years; Annie Ermlick for 3 years, E.J. Harold for 11 years, Don Thompson for 34 years and Carl Kauffmann for 54 years. Each member got one clap from the chorus for each year, so there were some red hands after the 34 and 54 year numbers!!
Both the Metro Voices and the Harmonizers worked on holiday music and songs they will need in the weeks ahead. That included the Harmonizers reviewing the 2026 International contest package they will sing for the Alfred Street visit. David Hillinck has announced that he will relaunch taking rehearsal notes and making them available for the Harmonizers in preparation for the holiday show
Here are other calendar notes for the chapter: on Oct. 13, the Harmonizers will rehearse at the First Presbyterian Church and Metro Voices will sing in Old Towne.
Capital Force, the youth ensemble of AACC, will have their first rehearsal on Sunday, Oct. 18, from 2:30 – 4:30 pm, with Tessa Walker as music director. Singers who sign up will be given details as to where the rehearsal will be held that afternoon. AACC singers are asked to contact families of singers in 7th -12th grades to sign up and bring their youth to the rehearsal, The 2026-27 season runs from October to March. Fee is $30 for the season – scholarships are available. NOTE: AACC executive director, Dita Rao, has issued a call for volunteers from the Harmonizers or Metro Voices to provide musical or admin support for Metro Voices (it can even be for one week at a time).
The fellowship event for the Harmonizers and the Alfred Street Baptist Men’s Gospel Choir will be held at the Fairlington Methodist Church and fellowship hall on Oct. 20. Call time is 6:30 pm. Black t-shirts for attire. The Harmonizers will sing their recent contest package songs “Harmony” and “Stars in the Night.” Meanwhile, Metro Voices will meet at Fairlington Presbyterian Church that night.
This fall, AACC chorus members will be singing a welcome to Veterans arriving on Honor flights at National Airport. There are two flights each day - Oct. 10 between 7-10 am, and Nov. 7 between 8-11 am. E.J. Herold organizes these service projects to welcome military veterans to the Nation’s Capital. All AACC singers are welcome to attend as there is printed music available for the basic patriotic songs that will be sung in a comfortable key for all. Learning tracks are also available on Groupanizer for most of the music. Attire will be the black t-shirts.
Stay tuned for details from the Culture Team about a Halloween celebration at a chapter meeting in October
The AACC Culture Team has also organized a social event at Cox Farm on Sunday, Nov. 1 from 11 am to 4 pm. Members interested in attending should contact Culture Team members and make a reservation/payment of $30 by Sept. 30!. Don’t pay or register with Cox Farm but with a Culture Team member – Becca Williams, Kellen Hertz orMatt Darouse. The chapter will have the pavilion there as part of the fall festival for friends and family of AACC - at 15621 Braddock Rd., Centreville, VA 20120, at the corner of Braddock Rd., and Pleasant Valley Rd.
Looking way ahead, the Dec. 12 holiday shows are scheduled for 3:30 pm and 7 pm at Fairlington United Methodist Church (across the street from our weekly meeting place). Good news – GQ will be featured quartet for that show!! ALERT: Singers will need to make plans to stay at the church between the two shows – the chapter will order in some dinner foods. Then everyone will need to be out of the church by 9:30 pm.
Latest news about the chapter’s trip to Japan in 2027 – it is still possible to sign up to join. And there is news that Northern Stars chorus, a Scandinavian chorus directed by Rasmus Krigstrom, will be a part of most, and possibly all, of the performances in Japan. Plus there is a possibility that Vocal Fix from New Zealand will join us for some performances. Contact for the trip is Brad Jones and he can help with the last-minute sign up process.
Congrats to several AACC members who have been nominated to serve on the 2027 M-AD District Board: Mike Fasano as president, David Welter as treasurer, Sheryl Berlin as member at large, and Ken Rub as member at large. This report came from Bill Colosimo, chair of the M-AD Leadership Development Committee, who created the slate of candidates for the election that will occur in a few weeks at the district board’s Oct. meeting.
After the 50/50 drawing Tuesday night, Patrick Horne conducted "Keep the Whole World Singing." No formal afterglow was announced but likely some folks found a spot to go relax after a fun rehearsal.
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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