Looking Back on the Nov. 10, 2026 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting
AACC met at Fairlington Presbyterian Church and worked on the music for the holiday show. Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, called for this week’s meeting (and next week’s) to go until 10 pm. He was pleased with a great rehearsal on so many songs and he praised the preparedness of the singers!!! There was good attendance too.
(Thanks to E.J. Herold for this report about the Honor Flight this past weekend). Saturday morning, November 7, a group of 13 Harmonizers and 5 Metro Voices with one guest gathered at Reagan National Airport to welcome nearly 200 veterans to the Nation’s Capital and a visit to “their" monuments. The 9 am flight came in from Palm Beach, FL, and the 10 am flight arrived from Madison, WI. Among the veterans were former service members of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
Assistant director of the Harmonizers, Jason Lee, conducted a warm-up before the first flight arrival and despite singing at half-volume or less, the chorus drew enthusiastic applause from Honor Flight greeters and random travelers. For the first flight, there was a large contingent of greeters that included Girl Scouts with handmade signs saying “Thank You for Your Service,” “Welcome to DC,” and other heartfelt messages. For the second flight, a group of Wisconsin folks in blue polo shirts was there to greet the arrivals. The singing was applauded throughout and some audience members were singing along.
For each flight, Jason directed the singers in a near-constant rotation of the patriotic songs. This was AACC’s second Honor Flight performance for the fall season and the last Saturday date for Honor Flights until spring. Members should watch for invites to do it again in the spring.
Also this week, 30 AACC singers performed patriotic material as part of the Rocky Wesace Veterans Day Ceremony program at the Mt. Vernon Recreation Center, on Commonwealth Ave. in Del Ray on Veterans Dad. Some members wore their military uniforms and others wore business attire. Members managed to find parking and were there for a warm up session in the Rec Center at 11:45 am. Assistant director of the Harmonizers, Terry Reynolds, was director for this performance. Some singers enjoyed lunch/brunch offers for Veterans in nearby eateries after the performance. According to reporter, Ken Rub, there were several times when audience members sang along and the keynote speaker knew all about the chorus since he is Mike Fasano’s boss at work.
To get this week’s rehearsal started, associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, led the warmup session for AACC that included the tag “Danny My Boy, Danny My Boy.” Before singing the tag, Tony had the members take three minutes to find three other parts so the chorus was all quartets. He was pleased with the sound and thanked fellow AACC members for making great music.
Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, took the helm then to work on several songs that the AACC ensemble will be singing on the holiday show, starting with “Welcome Christmas.” Some soloists were announced and made their first showing during this week’s rehearsal.
A breakaway orientation session was held for new members in the library to explain chapter organizational structure. President Craig Kujawa, and chapter executive director, Dida Rao, taught the session. The orientation sessions are held frequently since there are so many new AACC members these days. Hurray!
In recent weeks, the chapter got the announcement that long-time chapter quartet, FIRST TAKE, will fulfill remaining show dates and then end competition. They were a strong supportive top-level quartet that represented the Alexandria chapter for years. They will be missed at conventions and contests.
Joe alerted members of a work session on Tuesday, Jan. 19th totally dedicated to “Barber of Seville” with special coach, Tim Waurick.
Jacob Broude welcomed guests this week. Returning guests included John Ferri, Ethan Hattingh, Kim Dixon. Andy Zane, Matt Balfour, Holly Faust. The chapter welcome song for all the guests was directed by assistant Harmonizer director, Jason Lee.
Both Metro Voices and the Harmonizers worked hard on their holiday tunes and several members did the solos for the holiday songs. Joe was sitting by the piano in the hall and just added some fun piano background to “Hanukkah in Santa Monica.” After the meeting there was chatter indicating that the piano bit might be a keeper for the show!
The meeting ended with the 50/50 draw and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” right at 10 pm. asked if folks wanted to do an afterglow and there was a loud cheer for yes!! A good crowd was at the HarmoHouse til all hours since some folks didn’t have work on Wednesday. Good news that the holiday show matinee is 80% sold, so hopefully future sales will move over to the evening performance.
For the record, the AACC youth chorus, Capital Force, is meeting for this season on Sunday afternoons. Tessa Walkeris musical director for that ensemble.
Outside the chapter, former member Peter Hubbard was just elected to a full term on the Georgia Public Service Commission according to an email from another former chapter leader. Keith Jones.
And also congrats to all AACC members who are also members of Harmony, Inc. and participated at that organization’s convention recently.
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.
