Looking Back on the June 9, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting
After a very successful retreat weekend, it was back to a Tuesday night rehearsal to apply the lessons learned by the ensembles on their contest songs. Members responded with great attendance this week.
Also the Harmonizers welcomed Stuart Zagnit who came from Broadway this evening to be the ‘storyteller’ during the contest package. This week he worked with David McEachern, who stayed in town after the retreat, to help integrate Stuart into the set, along with Randall Eliason, who has learned the material as an understudy for the chapter performances. As reported earlier, Stuart was the understudy for that role on Broadway in the “Harmony” musical production. (He is best known for voicing Professor Oak in the Pokemon TV Show. He is currently appearing in “West Side Story.”)
Artistic director of the AACC, Joe Cerutti, offered sincere thanks and appreciation to the many behind-the-scenes workers who have helped, and continue to help, the Harmonizers tell the story of the Comedian Harmonists. In that regard, he presented new chorus name tags to Stuart and to Alex Chen.
Planning ahead, the chapter meeting for Tuesday, June 16, will be at Beth El Synagogue, 3830 Seminary Rd. Then, the traditional send-off performance for family, friends and patrons prior to the chorus going to an International contest, will be on Tuesday, June 23, at Beth El. Other important dates include the extra chorus rehearsals on June 18 and 25 at AlexRenew.
Regarding the send-off on 6/23 – members are encouraged to invite family and friends. The guests are welcome to come at the 7 pm start time to observe rehearsal, but the actual start of the send-off performances will begin at 8 pm. The send-off event will be at Beth El Synagogue. The AACC chorus will sing “I’m Still Standing” and “We Will Be One” for the audience at the send-off, who will also enjoy a guest appearance of GQ quartet with Samantha Tramacksinging bass.
This week’s warm up session for the AACC chorus was started at 7 pm by Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices; then Tony Colosimo, associate director of the Harmonizers, led rehearsal for the chapter “Welcome Song.”
Because the rehearsal was so busy this week, there was no ‘bandana check’ for the Class of 2026. The class includes 11 Harmonizers: Matt Darouse, Robby Della Bernarda, Cooper Schwartz, Jerry Candrilli, Devante Lucas, Billy Ermlick, Ben Raja, Owen Lyons, Josh Frakes, Logan Glauser, and Ben Hawker; and five Metro Voices: Susan Friel, Morgan Fabber, Laura Rutledge, Renee Tramack and Sarah Lott.
Joe shared the news that Brad Jones has been named a finalist for a position on the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) Board of Directors. The election to fill the position will be held at the board’s meeting in the days leading up to the contest and convention in St. Louis. Brad’s extensive leadership experience within BHS will make him a strong candidate. If elected, he will join a long list of distinguished chapter members who served on the BHS board over the years.
Katie Raimondo, a member of the Membership Triad, filled in for Jacob Broude to recognize guests this week including returnees Jonathon Meyer, Elizabeth Halford, and Carl Parkan; first timer Brian Roberts who found us online; and the two newest members: Dana Wooster and Mike Zelno. The AACC chorus sang the chapter welcome song for all the guests.
Chapter secretary Cy Schuster presented membership renewal cards to the following members (the chorus did the traditional one-clap-per-year for each one): Carey Fagerstrom for 4 years, Matt Ambler for 4 years, Craig Kujawafor 23 years, Jerry Candrilli for 23 years, and Mike Fasano for 31 years.
As a reminder, retreat attendees should make certain to turn in their $25 payment for the retreat to any member of the Culture Team – Becca Williams, Kellen Hertz and Matt Darouse. The team announced the following members were winners of nifty gift bags for their successful entry in the mixer contest at the retreat: Heidi Brown, Jeanne Hillinck, Catherine LaValley, Ben Rja, Jacob Broude, and Mireille Kouagou.
Also the team acknowledged several members for their extra efforts to help carry-the-load for the retreat weekend: Cooper Schwartz, Devin Turner, Ashley Merryman, Ruth for the cookies, Jack Pitzer for the ice cream, Brigham Blackhurst for the board games, Chad Ross for helping with the truck, and the chapter at large for riser set up and take down and clean-up of the halls.
Finally, the team has confirmed plans to show the “Harmonist” movie at AlexRenew at 7 pm on Friday, June 12.
After the business session, the two ensembles worked on separate risers for contest preparation – one full set in the main room at AlexRenew and a smaller set of the old risers in the smaller room.
For the Harmonizers, there is a call for speaking roles auditions for “I’m Just a Bill” – Tony is the contact for this. AndJoe is asking for some volunteers to work on the costumes for those characters/spokespersons.
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.
Registration 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 - can be managed at midatlanticdistrict.com until the cutoff on June 11.
To wrap up this week’s meeting, the ensembles met together to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing” directed by Kevin Mendez. The crowd at the afterglow enjoyed the pizza and the great summer evening weather which made it fun to gather on the newly upgraded deck!
LATE BREAKING NEWS: The Communications Triad announced today the launch of the new AACC website! The address is aaccsings.org. The old URL Harmonizers.org will now redirect to that site, as will welovetosing.org. If you discover glitches or typos, let the members of the Triad know – Maggie McAlexander, Randall Eliason and Frank Shipp. Good job.
As a follow up to that news, there is a need for a member to step up or be nominated to serve as Webmaster, plus a need to fill positions as Social Media Captains for each ensemble. Responses welcome.
Thanks to Alex Chen for the following update on the social media efforts of the chapter to explain and promote the Harmonizer’s efforts to tell the Comedian Harmonists story.
The Harmonizers’ Story Keeps Getting Richer
With about a month to go before July 3, the Harmonizers’ social media campaign is well into its second half, and there is a lot of ground to catch up on.
Since the last update, the campaign has introduced all six of the men portraying the Comedian Harmonists on stage: Chad Ross as Harry Frommermann, Ben Watsky as Roman Cycowski, Matt Ambler as Erich Collin, Rob Santine as Ari Leschnikoff, Rob Stark as Robert Biberti, and Matt Darouse as Erwin Bootz. The Thursday posts have given each historical figure his own spotlight, covering biography, personality, and the role he played in the group’s rise and fall. Along the way, the campaign has also featured choreographer Cy Wood, a behind-the-scenes look at the arrangements from Steve Armstrong, and a conversation with historian David Wright on why this repertoire matters.
Alex Chen meets weekly with Joe and Randall to plan, adjust, and keep the campaign moving forward. Randall serves as editor, and Mike Kelly has done remarkable work on the video side. Worth noting that Rob Santine has been the man behind the camera as videographer, on top of everything he is doing on stage.
An exciting development: Broadway veteran Stuart Zagnit will be joining the Harmonizers in St. Louis. Stuart understudied the role of Older Roman Cycowski in Harmony on Broadway and rehearsed the part with the full company. On July 3, he finally gets to bring it to an audience.
The best way to follow the whole story as it unfolds is the campaign playlist on Facebook, a running collection of every post updated each week.
๐ฃ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐' ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ “๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐. ๐๐ผ๐๐ถ๐” https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ErpqXLPuh/
For those on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandriaharmonizers/
The Harmonizers’ Facebook page remains the primary home for the campaign: facebook.com/harmonizers
In other AACC chapter family news, congratulations to Josh and Costanza Frakes on the birth of their son, Leonardo, on June 6!
Congratulations to Turner Arndt and his bride, Jessica, who were married this past weekend!
Both Josh and Turner claimed a good excuse for missing the retreat weekend!
Then sympathy to friends and family at the recent passing of Bill DePuy who died in his sleep this week at home. He was 85, having joined the Harmonizers in 2002 where he sang lead before moving to Waynesboro a number of years ago. There will be no service, but instead, a celebration at a large golf event in the weeks ahead with some 40 golfing friends who have joined him for 30 years at Shenvalee Golf Resort. Chapter members who wish to send his wife, Mimi, a note may use the home address: 147 Lake View Circle, Waynesboro VA 22980.
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.
