Looking Back on the May 12^th, 2020 Virtual Chapter Meeting

The chapter has suspended in-person meetings of the chorus, boards and committees until further notice as well as for any small group, quartet, or ensemble gatherings. This is in recognition of recent mandates by officials and leaders of the BHS and in cooperation with local health authorities and government officials. 

Thus there was not a regular in-person meeting of the Alexandria Harmonizers on May  12^th,  2020.  

Instead, director Joe Cerutti hosted a gathering at 7 pm via Zoom video meeting this week to continue the work on music, learn performance plans, and learn more about our chapter and the barbershop hobby in general. 

Joe was excited to report that we were anticipating coach and arranger David Wright to share his insights and thoughts about the new ballad he created for us “Oh What a Beautiful Morning;” and that we will hear from Cay Outerbridge, director of Vocal Revolution chorus in Concord, MA, explaining sight-reading methods used by his chorus. 

Joe reported that he had received the Proclamation from the Mayor of the City of Alexandria in honor of Brian Miller, who died last month from complications due to the convid 19 virus.  Joe will pass our copy on to the chapter’s history committee for our archives.

Joe also reports that chapter leaders will create a survey to seek “votes” for future meeting night topics or special guests for electives (all of which were suggested last week during our breakout sessions with fellow members).  These electives will be for virtual meetings as well as regular face-to-face meetings when they resume.  Watch for that survey and offer your opinion.

Finally he acknowledged that some members may find themselves lacking desire or drive to keep learning show music, turning in recordings, and drilling themselves.  Plus he suggests there is a strong chance we won’t be able to have our fall show. Therefore, Joe and the music team plan to pivot the music program more toward preparation for the next contest package, adjust recording plans and dates, possibly shorten virtual work sessions, and expand the general discussions with each other and about barbershop and our chapter.  Most importantly, he hopes every member will continue to join the virtual meetings to stay caught up and stay in touch with our Harmonizer brothers.

Before we moved on to breakout sessions, Terry Reynolds noted that each member will need to update to the new version of Zoom before next week.

Then Joe welcomed David from his home office in St. Louis so he could go over the ballad and let us make notes about how he sees it going.  He shared that he felt the Harmonizers were right for this song and this message and could handle the challenges he put in the arrangement to make it also exciting for the audience. His creative introduction to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s song is terrific.  It was a great session with David in which he explained the parts of the song, the tempo and many key changes and how the music expressed the message of this familiar song. 

Next, music team administrator Terry Reynolds used the Zoom system to randomly divide all attendees on the call into a small group of five or so.  Joe had asked the guys to share “What’s the closest you’ve been to a major celebrity and what were the circumstances.”  Each small group reported the story that they thought was best.  There were some amazing stories from our members as well as some pretty crazy ones.

The business meeting was brief with no major announcements.  

Chapter secretary Chris Buechler reports the following members have renewed their membership and he has mailed them their renewal cards: Gary Mankin - 47 years;
Al Herman - 37 years; Chris Buechler  - 35 years; Tom Berkey - 23 years; and Steve Murane - 18 years.

There were two electives this week.  Joe gave a very understandable and thorough explanation of the BHS Vision of Everyone in Harmony, and answered questions.  Cay met with another segment of the chorus for his presentation.

After these sessions ended, we thanked Cay and he joined the members who stayed on Zoom to visit and chat.

Next week’s meeting will be via Zoom again at 7 pm.  Watch for email details. (Note that the Zoom call info number is the same each week.)

   

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 of the great things going on each week during the 71^st year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd

Looking Back on the May 5^th, 2020 Virtual Chapter Meeting

The chapter has suspended in-person meetings of the chorus, boards and committees until further notice as well as for any small group, quartet, or ensemble gatherings. This is in recognition of recent mandates by officials and leaders of the BHS and in cooperation with local health authorities and government officials. 

Thus there was not a regular in-person meeting of the Alexandria Harmonizers on May 5^th,  2020.  

Instead, director Joe Cerutti hosted a gathering at 7 pm via Zoom video meeting this week to continue the work on music, learn performance plans, and learn more about our chapter and the barbershop hobby in general. He is quick to thank the chapter’s admin team, particularly Terry Reynolds, who makes it all happen as Zoom host.  

Joe was excited to report that we were anticipating coach Cy Wood on this call to teach more of the choreo for “42^nd Street” that we are learning; and that we will hear from Alan Gordon explaining the singing judging category for BHS contests. 

Joe asked members to let him know if they have a contact with a DC-area men’s dance organization the chapter can partner with; and he encouraged singers to submit their rehearsal ready materials by Fri. May 8^th for “Chorus Line.”

Next Joe lead the reporting of the survey we all took over the December holidays and prior to the individual interviews.  One interesting result was a pledge for chapter leaders –both admin and musical – to make an effort to align members with teams/interest groups/committees in a long list of possibilities: visual, show production, music review, youth festival, small group coaches, membership, social, history, technology, quartet activity, and to organize a “blind” nite event. 

Associate director Tony Colosimo did the physical and vocal warm up sessions for the 60+ singers on the call.  Then there were sectionals to work on “Chorus Line.

As a new feature this week, Alan Wile hosted an interview of fellow chapter member Chuck Hunter. The new feature will help members know fellow members better (so as not to wait until their memorial service) as recorded in Harmonizers Heroes which Alan manages (he has done it for 10 years).  The full collection of 250 reports submitted by members is available on Groupanizer under Documents.

Chuck was involved with his Dad, Chuck Sr., in CA and joined the Society at age 12. He directed the San Jose CA chorus in his early 20s. During his foreign service career he has been posted in Cairo, Algiers, Tunis, Muscat, Jerusalem, Al-Hillah (Iraq), Damascus, Bagdad, and Istanbul, plus often back to Washington DC which explains why he has frequently left the chorus for a period and then returned.  Whenever he has been here he has usually been a section leader and/or assistant director. AND he reports that he has never sung with us when we won a gold medal. 

Next, music team administrator Terry Reynolds used the Zoom system to randomly divide all attendees on the call into a small group of five or so.  Joe had asked the guys to share “any ideas you have for guest speakers or elective topics for the weeks ahead (both during Zoom and when we are back to regular chapter meetings).  Each small group reported and there was a great collection of strong ideas.

While guys were reporting, Joe received the learning tracks for our new contest ballad, “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” arranged by David Wright.  Joe played it for all to hear and the music was on the screen to follow along.  David, Joe and Tony agree it is a challenging number but David felt the Harmonizers could handle it. There were positive reactions on the Zoom call – including smiles and head nods during the playing of the music for us.

The business meeting was brief with no major announcements.  President Stan Quick thanked the members for keeping him informed about health and welfare status of our members. It was good to have Tom Berkey on the call and to get his report that his wife is doing much better. 

Chapter secretary Chris Buechler reports the following members have renewed their membership and he has mailed them their renewal cards: Tom Hansen - 44 years; Andy Smith- 44 years; Jim Lucey-31 years; Bill DePuy-30 years; and Jason Lee-18 years.

Next coach Cy Wood came to us from his home in Ohio.  He went right to work on continuing his choreo instruction for “42^nd Street,” with a brief review of what he taught last time, and then a lot of new material for guys to work on. 

There were two electives this week.  Alan Gordon spoke about the singing category for our BHS contest judging.  He is interim director for the Masters of Harmony and sang baritone in popular top quartets MASTERPIECE and GOTTCHA. 

Jack Pitzer spoke about the directors that have served the Harmonizer chorus since it was chartered in 1948: Gene Barnwell – 1948-50; Werner Paul – 1950-61; Bud Arberg – 1951-62; Oz Newgard – 1963-70; Scott Werner – 1970-80 and 1984-2002; John Hohl – 1980-83; Terry Reynolds – interim Aug.-Dec. 2002; Richard Lewellen – 2003-06; and Joe Cerutti – 2007 until now.

After these sessions ended, some of the members stayed on Zoom to visit and chat.

Next week’s meeting will be via Zoom again at 7 pm.  Watch for email details. (Note that the Zoom call info number is the same each week.)

Outside the chapter meeting, there was a recent email from Harmony Foundation International with news that our chapter ranks 23^rd (as of April 30^th, 2020) in percentage of contributions. There were 82 of our 187 members who gave yielding a 44% or 23^rd place.  (Interesting, we were the only chapter over 100 members in the top 75! Congrats 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 of the great things going on each week during the 71^st year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd

Looking Back on the April 28^th, 2020 Virtual Chapter Meeting

The chapter has suspended in-person meetings of the chorus, boards and committees until further notice as well as for any small group or ensemble gatherings. This is in recognition of recent mandates by officials and leaders of the BHS and in cooperation with local health authorities and government officials. 

Thus there was not a regular in-person meeting of the Alexandria Harmonizers on April 28^th,  2020.  

Instead, director Joe Cerutti hosted a gathering at 7 pm via Zoom video meeting this week to continue the work on music, learn performance plans, and learn more about our chapter and the barbershop hobby in general.

Joe was excited to report that we were anticipating coach Kevin Keller on this call to share his thoughts, ideas, and concepts for his arrangement of “42^nd Street” that we are learning; and that we will hear from Mark Kettner explaining the performance judging category for BHS contests. 

Chris Huber and Joe shared the news that Peggy Harris, our friend from our stop in Les Ventes France, after our trip to Normandy, had died on April 14^th.  She was 96 and living in Vernon, TX. 

Joe reminded singers to please submit their rehearsal ready materials right away for “Chorus Line.”

Associate director Tony Colosimo did the physical and vocal warm up sessions for the 60+ singers on the call. His session included dancing to “Twist and Shout!”

Then there was work on “Goodbye” from The Producers (arranged for the Harmonizers by Steve Tramack) with rehearsal ready singers working with Joe and others working with Tony. 

Next, music team administrator Terry Reynolds used the Zoom system to randomly divide all attendees on the call into a small group of five or so.  This gave us a chance to check in with each other and each small group reported back to the whole with news and updates from the members.  Great chance to help fill the gap of not seeing or singing with each other.  Joe had asked the guys to share “what they have been doing to survive these days!”

The business meeting was brief with no announcements.  A couple Harmonizer families have covid-19 issues so our thoughts are with Calvin Schnure and Frank Fedarko who have elderly family members who tested positive for the virus.

Kevin Keller, from the Ambassadors of Harmony and a popular Harmonizer coach, joined our Zoom call. He was well prepared, and with the music for “42^nd Street” appearing on our screens, he spoke about his thoughts, ideas, concepts, desires, suggestions and major details he had put into this exciting arrangement for our chorus.  He was glad to see and hear from the men in the chapter and created more excitement about this new uptune.

Joe and the guys thanked Kevin for his insights and thorough instruction.

There were two electives/breakout sessions again this week.  Terry Reynolds presented Great Barbershop Chorus Performances; and Mark Kettner explained the performance category.  He is from the Dixie District and resides in Tennessee. He shared all the current info about that category and shared his thoughts of how we earned good marks in performance with our uptune “Anything Goes” that we sang at the International in Toronto.

After these sessions ended, Joe thanked Mark  for joining us.  Then a good number of men stayed on Zoom to visit and chat.

Next week’s meeting will be via Zoom again at 7 pm.  Watch for email details.

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 of the great things going on each week during the 71^st year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd

Looking Back on the April 21^st, 2020 Virtual Chapter Meeting

The chapter has suspended in-person meetings of the chorus, boards and committees until further notice as well as for any small group gatherings. This is in recognition of recent mandates by officials and leaders of the BHS and in cooperation with local health authorities and government officials. 

Thus there was not a regular in-person meeting of the Alexandria Harmonizers on April 21^st,  2020.  

Instead, director Joe Cerutti hosted a gathering at 7 pm via Zoom video meeting this week to continue the work on music, learn performance plans, and learn more about our chapter and the barbershop hobby in general.

We were anticipating guests on this call to include our coach Cy Wood from Ohio, and Steve Armstrong from Toronto Northern Lights chorus to speak on the music judging category in BHS.

Joe kicked off his remarks with a loud Wow! And Thank You! to all the men for their work in rallying to the Spring2ACTion campaign on Wed., April 15^th.  He particularly thanked Randall Eliason for his leadership in making that happen as well as the four sectional leaders –Devin, Ben, Brad and Matt.

Joe reports that the Mayor contacted him and plans to issue a Proclamation in honor of Brian Miller.

Finally Joe announced plans for “Chorus Line” in the weeks ahead: 1. He has made videos about the background of the song and interpretation on Facebook including “What I Did For Love;” 2. Singers may submit a recording this week of this one – remember still only submit one recording per week; 3. The chorus is looking to create a partnership with a local men’s dance organization to support this song – if members have ideas or contacts, please share with Joe.

Associate director Tony Colosimo did the physical and vocal warm up sessions for the 60+ singers on the call.

Then Tony met with men who were “riser ready” on “Defying Gravity” and Joe met with those who were not yet ready. 

Next we welcomed Cy from his home in Ohio.  He reports the school where he teaches just confirmed they would not be going back to class in the building this school year.  Then Cy set the stage for his work with teaching the Harmonizers the performance plan for “42^nd Street.”  He explained that his intentions were to create a plan that honors the “golden age of musical theater” and incorporate dance/athleticism.  (He has already provided the chorus videos they can review on their own.) Cy encouraged the men to stand up in their homes and perform things with him this evening.  He made good headway on the plan, but will likely be back to continue.

Joe and the guys thanked Cy for his help and instruction.

Next there were sectionals on “Chorus Line Medley.”

And then Joe took the helm to work with the chorus on their music for “42^nd Street.”  This time Joe asked Tony to sing the song and Joe coached Tony as a way of coaching the whole chorus. One major point stressed in this session was that the words should be pronounced as in the music – for example: danc-ing  vs. danc-in.

Joe asked for any volunteers to sing part of the song next week.  And Joe and Tony are very eager to hear from members as to how they like this work time, is it helping, are individuals making progress.  Even if all you tell them – it’s ok.  Speak up.

Joe reminded everyone how grateful we are as a chapter to have Tony’s help in our musical efforts.

There was a chapter business meeting period conducted by communications director Steve Murane. First off, Randall did a wrap up report about Spring2ACTion – we raised over $33,000! And the chapter thanked Randall for pushing.

Steve shared that guys would be hearing from BHS about refunds from Harmony University this summer, but note that the messages will come from Eventbrite.

He also reminded guys that instead of the HU trip, the chapter will host a “Harmonizer University” this summer/fall and so guys should plan to save some of their refund money to cover their costs for that fun weekend event.

President Stan Quick reports that Clyde Crusenberry is going to have some non-covid related surgery.

Members should take note of the email message about the scholarship started to honor Brian Miller.

Phyllis Muir, Craig Odell’s mother-in-law, passed away Friday morning as a direct result of COVID-19.  Condolences to Linda and Craig Odell, and Erin Odell and Dan Cook. 

Chapter secretary Chris Buechler spoke with John Adams, past Harmonizer president (1966) and long-time tenor section leader before he moved to NC, and learned that John’s wife, Jean, age 88, passed away Friday night. She had Lewy body dementia and had been in assisted care for the past six years. However, she had tested negative for COVID-19. She was an avid quilter and a past president of the Harmonettes (our former auxiliary).

We congratulate the following men for renewing as Harmonizers (as reported by secretary Chris Buechler who sent them their membership renewal cards): Bob Wachter - 68 years; Gene Swartz   - 54 years; Don Johnson - 51 years; Fr Joe Witmer  - 50 years; Jeff Taylor  - 28 years; Ian Poulin  - 20 years; and Duncan Woodbury - 8 years.

Following the meeting, there were two electives/breakout sessions.  Randall Eliason spoke about Harmonizers Organizational Structure including AH Inc.  Steve Armstrong, who is chairman of the BHS Contest and Judging Committee, explained the music category for our BHS contest system.

After these sessions ended, Joe thanked Cy for joining us.  Then  a good number of men stayed on Zoom to visit and chat.

Next week’s meeting will be via Zoom again at 7 pm.  Watch for email details.

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 of the great things going on each week during the 71^st year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd