Looking Back on the Oct. 25th and Nov. 1st 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meetings

 Looking Back on the Oct. 25^th  and Nov. 1^st 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meetings

 

(Thank you to Jerry Jayjohn for taking notes at both of these chapter meetings while YeEd was on travel to the Midwest!)

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo started the Oct. 25^th meeting with warmups of the body doing body stretches and walking in place for proper alignment, then moving onto vocal warm ups.

 

Then a few announcements before starting singing about plans for next week to work on

 “J I N G L E Bells.”

 

Members interested in singing a solo for the show were encouraged to submit a recording by Sunday.

 

Tony took a good amount of time working on “Mr. Grinch,” then we moved onto “White Christmas.”

 

Then the chorus went into sectionals to work on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” for 25 minutes. Once back on the risers, Tony did more work on selected spots in that song.

 

After that was the business session. There will be a dress rehearsal for the Holiday Show on Thursday, Dec. 8^th. 

 

Executive director Randall Elisaon announced that the chapter is still looking for a Communications Director and a Website Manager. Randall also announced that chapter leadership is looking for someone with a connection to NVCC in Alexandria, as we are looking to collaborate with them.

 

Membership director Jacob Broude introduced this week’s guests including Johan Westberg who was in town; Henry who had been with us before;  and Gary, who’s dad is a barbershopper on the west coast. Gary asked for a quartet to sing for his girlfriend’s birthday on Friday. Some guys volunteered to sing for Gary’s surprise. Terry Reynolds led the chorus in singing  the “Harmonizer Welcome Song.”

 

After the business portion of the meeting, Tony led the chorus through “JINGLE BELLS,” giving points about where each singer should be in character when singing this tune. Then we moved onto “Let It Snow,” and the guys wrapped up the night with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

 

Here are the notes for the November 1^st hybrid Harmonizer meeting at Scottish Rite Temple:

 

Tony started the evening with a quick physical and vocal warmup.  

 

After warmup, he started chorus work with the caroling medley, working their way backwards, starting with “Caroling Caroling,” then onto “Sleigh Bells Ring,” and continuing backwards to “Let It Snow.”

After singing through the medley, the chorus worked on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” with a few repetitions of that. Then they moved on to “Mary had a Baby.”

 

During the business session, Randall thanked the guys who sang in a put together quartet for our guest, Gary, from last week. His girlfriend was very pleased and the couple made a $200 donation to the chapter.  

 

Also, it was announced that uniforms for the Holiday Show would be out solid color winter sweatshirt’s to be worn with the white scarf. There is a sign-up sheet for the guys to indicate if they need a sweatshirt.

 

After business, Tony asked that only those who self-assess at 5, 6, or 7 with feedback from either an octet or from the section leader, to sing on the risers for “J-I-N-G-L-E Bells.”  After fixing a few things and repetitions, everyone was invited back onto the risers to run through it.

 

Then, the chorus sang a quick run through of  “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch.” 

 

Finally before closing out there was a review of  “Armed Forces Medley” in preparation for our Veterans Day sing out at 1 pm (chorus call is 12:15) at Mount Vernon Rec Center in Del Ray.  

 

After that the 50/50 was drawn and we were adjourned.

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Looking Back on the October 18th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the October 18^th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

This week’s meeting was a busy one for the chorus as they prepared songs for the Dec. 9^th holiday show – “Comfort and Joy.” Because of the election this week, the meeting was shared via Zoom too.

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo started off the Harmonizer evening in the auditorium with a great warm up session and taught the chorus the tag “I’d Give a Million Tomorrows for Just One Yesterday.”

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti was happy about our fellowship and singing event last week with Alfred Street Men and the singers from local area barbershop choruses. He thanked Dean Rust and Clyde Crusenberry for their hard work in making in happen. And he thanked the chorus members for coming out on a second night that week.

 

Joe was also pleased with the number of volunteers who offered to serve  on a restarted repertoire committee.  This week he asked for volunteers to serve on an artistic show group that meets only a few times a year. Interested members should speak to Joe or Terry Reynolds. 

 

He reported that WETA chose our recording of “Joy to the World” to use on their holiday special features.

 

President Noah Van Gilder was presiding officer for the annual chapter meeting to elect officers and a board. Executive director Randall Eliason confirmed that a quorum was present. A. motion to elect was passed and the following member were elected: President: Noah Van Gilder; Treasurer: Terry Reynolds; Secretary: Cy Shuster; Members At Large: Dave Kohls, Turner (TJ) Arndt, John Greene, Devin Gerzof and Carolyn Griffin (who will serve as Vice President of the board).   

Thanks to Dave Kohls and Bruce Roehm for their work in serving on the committee with Stan Quick, nominating committee chair.

The first song to work on this week was “Mary Had a Baby” with Joe directing and Tony coaching. Then the chorus worked on “Joy to the World” before adjourning for sectionals for 25 minutes.

When the singers returned to the risers, they worked on “Grinch,”  “JINGLE BELLS,” and “Gloria.”

Additional business matters this week included an appeal from president Van Gilder for members to strongly consider getting their flu shot. 

Randall announced that holiday show tickets are on sale now on the website - $35 each with some reduced prices for students and youth. This show will be at Schlesinger.

 

He also announced there are two vacancies on the operations team – a webmaster and a communications director for internal and external messages.  Randall stressed that the chapter is interested in anyone who might want to volunteer – a singer, a former singer, a family member or partner, a neighbor and Harmo fan or supporter.

Joe announced that the chorus has been invited to do a holiday show at the DC Scottish Rite Temple on Sat. Dec. 17^th.  Members will be asked about their availability and willingness to do this paid show. 

Dean Rust reminded the chorus of the Veteran’s Day sing on Nov. 11^th in Alexandria.

The chorus resumed with work on the songs in the medley for the show.

Good to see Ken Ives and Terry Jordan in the hall this week. 

In other news, president Noah Van Gilder shared details about a memorial service for former Harmonizer John Adams. It will be held at the University United Methodist Church, 150 E Franklin St., Chapel Hill, NC 27514 on November 12^th 2022 at 11 am. 

 

On Wed. Oct. 19^th, a kick-off planning meeting with about a dozen folks was held at the Harmo House to launch plans for our 75^th anniversary celebration, show, gala and other events or projects. Steve White was tapped to assemble this working crew. 

 

Finally, there will be no Looking Back reports published immediately after the meetings on Oct. 25^th and Nov. 1^st.  Reports will be published later for those meetings.  YeEd will be making his usual trip to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Looking Back on the October 12th 2022 Men’s Fellowship with Alfred Street Men

 Looking Back on the October 12^th 2022 Men’s Fellowship with Alfred Street Men

 

There were over 100 guests in the auditorium at Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) for this year’s singing fellowship event with Alfred Street Baptist Men’s Chorus and the Alexandria Harmonizers.   The event had been cancelled for a couple years during the COVID era so leaders of both groups were eager to “get together to sing” again. Everyone did wear masks while seated in the auditorium.

 

Both groups invited other singers to join in the fellowship and singing. Alfred Street, directed by Melvin Bryant, had asked the combined choirs of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, MD, directed by Brandon Felder, and the men from Woodstream Church in Mitchellville, MD, directed by Nat Thomas, to sing.  They also brought the Theodore Thorpe. III Quartet that sang during the evening.

 

The Harmonizers, directed by Joe Cerutti, invited  barbershop harmony singers from seven other chapters in the DC Metro area including Bull Run Troubadours from Manassas, VA; Harmony Heritage Singers from Mount Vernon, VA; Arlingtones from Arlington, VA; Old Dominion Chorus from Loudon County, VA; Singing Capital Chorus from Washington, DC; Harmony Express from Germantown, MD; and Hometowne USA from Montgomery County, MD.

 

To kick off the night’s program (after lots of greeting and welcoming each other again). Joe introduced our friend and part of the driving force for this annual event, Dr. Joyce Garrett, who is director of the Alfred Street Baptist Church Music and Worship Arts Ministry. 

 

The barbershop singers present were combined and sang a couple barbershop classics with Joe as director.  Thanks to Dean Rust who did so much work to organize this event including contacting our fellow barbershop singers and to prepare and print the program handout for the night.

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo taught the entire audience tags a couple times during the night including “You Gotta Have Heart” as the finale.

 

The Harmonizers sang “Help from My Friends” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and earned an enthusiastic standing ovation from the singers present.

 

The social time in the cafeteria at SRT was an enjoyable time for all guests.  Many thanks to Clyde Crusenberry for all of his work to organize, purchase and move into place, plus to set up ,the yummy refreshments and drinks for the night.  He did garner some volunteers to bring coolers and help. Thanks to all who pitched in. As well, thanks to chapter operations chairman Gary Cregan and those men who helped with riser work, plus Dennis Ritchey for sound tech support. 

 

Looking ahead to next year, Joe challenged the Alfred Street Men to be ready to sing three songs next year!

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Looking Back on the October 11th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the October 11^th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

There was a lot of barbershop harmony at the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) again this week. Membership director Jacob Broude was busy welcoming the singers attending the second meeting of Metro Voices this week, along with welcoming Harmonizers. Members welcomed Craig Odell back this week.  

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo started off the Harmonizer evening in the auditorium with a great warm up session.

 

He thanked the chorus for their good work and cooperation at the M-AD contest weekend in Lancaster, PA.  There were congratulations for quartets and guys who sang and guys who worked at the convention. (See the Looking Back report from the weekend.)  

 

Tony worked with the riser singers while artistic director Joe Cerutti worked with the Metro Voices. The chorus worked on “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch;” “Let It Snow” and “Winter Wonderland” that are part of the “Caroling Caroling Medley;” plus “Mary Had a Baby,” and “Silent Night.”

 

Then the chorus formed small learning groups in four other spots within SRT. Small group leaders were Ryan Mextorf, Lance Fisher, David Breen, and Turner Arndt. Those sessions worked on “JINGLE BELLS.”  When those groups returned to the risers, the whole chorus worked on that song to apply lessons learned.

 

Next week singers will have the opportunity to sing in an octet to exhibit their readiness for performance.  It was stressed that singers should do the octet only when they are ready, not as a test to see how it goes.

 

Joe joined the chorus in the auditorium for the last part of the night and first off thanked the singers who made the effort to go to Lancaster, to be the test chorus for a training session for chorus directors, for perfectly responding to his cues during the master class, and for helping cheer our fellow members who were in the contest. Dennis Ritchey also thanked the chapter, on behalf of M-AD,  for all they did in Lancaster.  

 

Major points in this week’s business session included the request for help moving risers and materials after the meeting from operations director Gary Cregan; Terry Reynolds says quartets that want to sing a song or part of one on the holiday show should let him know immediately; Joe invited any members interested in serving on a restarted repertoire committee to speak to him; and finally members should mark their calendar for the 1 pm sing-out on Friday, Nov. 11^thfor Veterans’ Day.

 

 

Joe shared the plans for the sing and social time with Alfred Street Baptist Men’s Choir.  It will be Wed. Oct. 12^th at SRT at 7 pm. He stressed that if a singer can only make it out one night this week, he should come to the sing with Alfred Street.   Their choir has invited another chorus and we will be inviting some other area barbershop chapters to join us.  Dean Rust is organizing this effort and Clyde Crusenberry is organizing the refreshments part of the night (he was busy before the meeting collecting coolers that guys brought in.) He would welcome any early arrivals on Wed. night to come down to the cafeteria to see how they could help.  Masks will be worn when not singing.  Chorus will wear the black camp shirt, jeans, with blacks shoes and socks.

 

The chapter bid safe travels to Jonathan Rojas, son-in-law of Ike Evans, who has been a frequent guest on Tuesday nights.  He is relocating to Spain. And they offered three cheers to have Ben Watsky back on the risers after his recent wedding. 

Next  week the chapter will hold it’s annual election.   The 2023 Nominating Committee has completed its work in finding candidates to serve on the Harmonizers' chapter board for the coming year.  The nominees are: President: Noah Van Gilder; Treasurer: Terry Reynolds; Secretary: Cy Shuster; Members At Large: Dave Kohls, Joshua Baumgardner, Turner (TJ) Arndt, John Greene, Devin Gerzof and Carolyn Griffin (who will serve as Vice President of the board)

Here are the bios of the candidates:

Noah Van Gilder (President) will serve his second term as president. His previous leadership roles for the Harmonizers include one term as vice president for marketing and public relations and three terms as board member at large. In his professional life, Noah is a policy analyst for the federal government. He graduated as a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 2006 and as a Master of Public Administration from the George Washington University in 2012.

 

Terry Reynolds (Treasurer) has been a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers since 1992 and has served in numerous musical and leadership positions including Executive Director, President, Treasurer, Music & Performance VP, and Front Row Captain. He has been Associate or Assistant Director for over 20 years. He currently manages the activities and operations of the Music Team for Artistic Director Joe Cerutti. Terry has held numerous positions with the Barbershop Harmony Society serving on the Leadership Operations Project Team (LOPT), Chorus Director Development Committee, as a Certified Trainer for Chorus Director Workshop Intensive (CDWI), and on the Leadership Academy Training Faculty for President and for Music and Performance. Terry is an IT Specialist and Data Analyst for the consulting company Deloitte, supporting US Government clients. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

 

Cy Shuster(Secretary) joined the Harmonizers last fall, moving here from New Mexico to be closer to family. In Albuquerque, he competed under the direction of Farris Collins and Tony Sparks in Duke City Sound. He is in the twentieth year of operating his business as an independent piano tuner/technician, and got into barbershop a decade ago by singing in a pickup chorus with Scott Kitzmiller (father to Kyle and Kohl) at the annual piano technician conventions, where he now teaches. He has served on the boards of several nonprofits. He grew up in the mountains of southern New Mexico, and then lived in California for 25 years, both north and south. In his prior career, he designed and developed software for more than thirty years for companies such as Lotus, Borland, Ashton-Tate, Hughes, Citicorp, and Autodesk, going all the way back to the days of punched cards. 

 

Dave Kohls (Member-at-Large) has been associated with the Harmonizers since 2011 and has served on the Alexandria Harmonizers, Inc. board as a community board member since 2020. Dave is a psychologist with a private practice in Alexandria, VA, providing both clinical services to individuals and consulting services to industry and government. Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in physics, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and a doctorate in clinical psychology. Although Dave no longer sings in public, he is passionate about the power of music to enrich lives and improve our communities.

 

Devin Gerzof (Member-at-Large) has been a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers since the fall of 2019. He began his tenure on the BHS board in 2021. Devin works on Capitol Hill for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. While at Georgetown, Devin sang with the Georgetown Chimes, the campus' only all-male acapella group. Devin developed his barbershop roots with the Chimes and is excited to continue his post-college involvement in barbershop harmony with the Harmonizers. He attended Georgetown University for his bachelor’s degree in Government and Psychology.

 

Joshua Baumgardner (Member-at-Large) will continue as a community member on our board.  He enjoyed a diverse career, performing both operatic, concert, and choral works across the United States and briefly in Germany. Joshua had the distinct pleasure of being a young artist with Opera North, the Mittelsächsiches Theatre, and the American Wagner Society as well as a regional finalist for the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Joshua also enjoyed a career teaching voice alongside his career singing. He now enjoys a career as a full-time realtor with TTR Sotheby's International Realty, and still performs as a soloist on occasion at the request of conductors with whom he has worked previously. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from James Madison University and his M.M. from Florida State University, where he was awarded the HannahBeaulieu prize for vocal excellence.

 

John Greene (Member-at-Large) is not new to the Harmonizers, having been a member for 8 years, and will serve a second term as a community board member. He is retired after a 34-year career with the United States Copyright Office (Library of Congress) during which time he studied business administration at Central Michigan University. He has sung and performed (vocal and instrumental) most of his life. He is a current parishioner of The Alfred Street Baptist Church where he serves as president and member of the Handbell Choir and two vocal choirs. He went to Howard University where he received his Bachelor of Music Education degree.

 

Carolyn Griffin (Member-at-Large) will also continue as a community member for our board.  She is the Producing Artistic Director of MetroStage where she has been since its founding in 1984. During that time, she has produced over one hundred main stage productions, including seventeen plays and musicals. She has chaired both the Alexandria Arts Forum, which she co-founded, and the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, served on regional panels for both the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Kentucky Arts Council and various other arts boards. She has received numerous awards including the Actors Center Award of Distinction, the Award of Harmony from the Alexandria Harmonizers, the Helen’s Star from theater Washington, and was named a “Living Legend” by the Alexandria Gazette Packet and Alexandria Rotary Club. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the George Washington University, a Master’s degree in Psychology from Catholic University and an MBA from Georgetown University.

 

Turner Arndt (Member-at-Large) has been a Harmonizer since February 2019 and a BHS member for 8 years. He is currently on the chorus music team, serving as visual leader for the chorus. Turner is a Civil Engineer working for a specialty subcontractor in Manassas, VA and has a Bachelor's Degree in Construction Engineering and a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering, both from the University of Alabama. In addition to his time spent at work and with the chorus, Turner coaches for a high school rowing program in Fairfax County and is passionate about staying physically active and getting outdoors.

The chapter election will be held during the business meeting at our rehearsal Tuesday, October 18.  Please try to attend so that we can reach a quorum.

Thanks to Dave Kohls and Bruce Roehm for their work in serving on the committee - Stan Quick, nominating committee chair.

The chapter celebrated September and October birthdays this week – Tony announced them at the meeting and each member earned one clap. At the afterglow, there was cake and we sang the song. September birthdays are Carl Kauffmann, Michael Berkson, Lew Klinge, Tom Frederick, Father Joe Witmer, Mario Sengco, Stan Quick, Bob Wilson, Don Thompson and Randy Lazear.

 

October birthdays are Phil Ashford, Tom Berkey, Chris Buechler, Bill Colosimo, Devin Gerzof, Paul Grimes, Craig Kujawa, Michael Pinto, Jack Pitzer, Mike Schwartz, Cy Shuster, and John Smith.

 

In other news, president Noah Van Gilder shared news that Connie Lauther, wife of former Harmonizer Bruce, died recently. Services will be Oct. 18^th, 10 am, at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home.  Our hearts go out to Bruce and the family.

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Looking Back on the October 7-8th 2022 M-AD Fall Contest and Convention

 Looking Back on the October 7-8^th 2022 M-AD Fall Contest and Convention

 

It was great for the Harmonizers to sing again at our Mid Atlantic District (MAD) contest and convention after the years without a convention.

 

And it was great to have another Harmonizer quartet win the district quartet championship! FIRST TAKE earned 3178 points (or 88.3 %) to capture the top slot.  The quartet includes Alex Courson, Tony Colosimo, Drew Wheaton, and Andrew Havens. 

 

The Harmonizers did not compete in the chorus contest at Lancaster, PA, but presented a master class from the main stage Saturday before the start of the quartet finals, provided a chorus for the district’s chorus director development class, and appeared as a guest on the Saturday night show wearing their third place medals earned in Charlotte.  

 

Songs for the weekend included “Never Fully Dressed,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Circle of Life” for the Saturday night show; plus a couple songs “Sweet and Lovely” and “Heart of My Heart” for the directors training class; and parts of “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” and “Somethings Comin” for the master class.  

 

Handouts for the master class gave an outline for the one-hour session with presenters Tony Colosimo, Terry Reynolds and Joe Cerutti.  There comments including showing the demographics of the chorus, ages and career fields; a significant session on vocal pedagogy; and a transparent report on how we do things to prepare the chorus for performance, to gather feedback, to communicate, and to manage operations. 

 

Many members of the chapter drove up on Saturday and some actually drove home after the show.  Many of us enjoyed the goodies and lunch from the Amish Central Market across the street from the hotel – especially since the chorus was singing right through the dinner hour. Fortunately there was a dressing room for the chorus to use for the evening.

 

One other Harmonizer quartet was set to sing in the contest, but bass Vinny came down with COVID and so BREAKFAST BLEND dropped out at the last minute. The quartet includes Mike Geipel, Scott Beach, Jerry Caudrilli and Vinny Capaccio. 

 

The third place quartet for the weekend, SECRET BEST FRIENDS, included former member Will Daniel Simmons. The fourth place quartet, MADHATTAN, included former member Spencer Wight.

 

Chapter friends, the QUINTONES, were the mic tester quartet on Friday night, and PRATT STREET POWER sang to complete their reign as 2020 M-AD champs.  Their baritone, Ben Hawker, provided the rhythm for our rendition of “Circle of Life.”  Their lead, Ed Schubel, is a former Harmonizer.

 

Another chapter friend, Stephanie Brictson, was named to the M-AD Hall of Honor.  She served as coach and choreographer for the chapter a few years ago. There are 26 Harmonizers in the Hall of Honor. She was the tenor in the fifth place quartet. CHAMPAGNE ALLEY. Harmonizer Rick Taylor is chairman of the Hall of Honor committee.

 

The lead singer in the eighth place quartet, BREAKFAST FOR DINNER, Anna Chelak, was the student chorus director the Harmonizers worked with in the afternoon. She is a from Hells Kitchen, NY. Artistic director Joe Cerutticonducted this training session and the chorus provided the chorus for her to direct.  She had prepared to direct one of our songs which was fun. Leaders of the M-AD thanked the chorus members for helping with this education program.\

 

There \ere members of the Harmonizer family working all weekend at the convention in duties such as events team with Brian Ammerman as one of the new team members;  David Welter as M-AD treasurer, working the lights for the contest; Sheryl Berlin as emcee for the chorus contest; Mike Kelly as videographer; recent Tuesday night Harmonizer guest Kevin Mendez as one of the candidate judges for the week end; past district presidents Alan Wile, Bill Colosimo, Dennis Ritchey and Bob Eckman were in attendance; and Steve White who is the cofounder and president of the Mid-Atlantic District Association of Quartet Champions (MADAQC) organized a successful Sing/Tag with the Champs fundraising activity in the hotel lobby.  Several of our members gave a donation that went to the M-AD’s Youth in Harmony Program and sang a tag or a song including  Dylan Smith, Sam McFarland, Bill Colosimo and Noah Van Gilder.

 

Many members of the Harmonizer family were also on stage during the chorus contest among the 16 choruses even though Alexandria did not compete. Parkside Harmony won the contest and East Coast Sound was second.  Both of these choruses will  be eligible to sing in the International contest in Louisville KY next summer. Sean Devine is one of the directors in Hershey and was joined by Lance Fisher, Chris Yates and Michael Vilcej on stage.  Lance and Josh Myers sang with East Cost Sound on stage.

 

Mike Wallen directed the Richmond Chorus with Mike Geipel, Scott Beach, Jim McConnell and Tom Burkey on the risers. Pookie Dingel was director of the Harrisburg Chorus.  Kris Zinkievich directed the Heart of Maryland Chorus with Tim Buell on the risers. BJ Hillinck, son of our new member, David, is co-director of the Voices of Gotham  (and BJ’s wife Elizabeth, was tenor in BREAKFAST BEFORE DINNER).   And as promised, our friends in Bryn Mawr, PA, sang the “Wee Small Hours of the Morning” arrangement the Harmonizers sang in 1998 for the gold medal. 

 

It was great to join together with fellow barbershoppers from all across the district to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing” as a close to this year’s convention. Next year’s convention will be Sept. 29-30.

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 Looking Back on the October 4^th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

The rainy cold weather this week didn’t seem to keep the Harmonizer singers away and there was good crowd on the risers in the auditorium at Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) at 7 pm.  

 

Things started off with an enthusiastic warm up session conducted by assistant director emeritus Will Cox.

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti called for a moment of reflection with the sad news of the unexpected passing of Linda Odell last week.  All of the chapter extends sympathy to Craig and the family.  Linda was a significant part of the Harmonizer family!

 

Joe also shared that his Dad, Joe Sr., was just released from the hospital today after surgery.

 

On a more cheerful note, Joe shared the fun he had on Monday night when he coached the Bryn Mawr, PA, chorus as they prepared for this weekend’s fall M-AD chorus contest in Lancaster.  The Mainliners chorus is singing “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” just as the Harmonizers did it when they won gold in 1998. They sing 12^th on Saturday in this fall Mid Atlantic District contest and we will all be cheering for them.

 

That announcement brought up details about the Harmonizer schedule and plans for Lancaster.  Many guys have figured a way to get a room, share a room with another member, even some guys rented a B&B.  The quartet contest starts at 5:27 pm Friday night.  We have two quartets with Harmonizers singing in them in the contest this year.  FIRST TAKE sings 17^th and includes Alex Courson, Tony Colosimo, Drew Wheaton, and Andrew Havens; and BREAKFAST BLEND singing 19^th and includes Mike Geipel, Scott Beach, Jerry Caudrilli and Vinny Capaccio. 

 

As a reminder, the only songs thh chorus will sing are “Never Fully Dressed,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Circle of Life” for the Saturday night show; plus a couple simple songs “Sweet and Lovely” and “Heart of My Heart” for a class for training new directors training; and parts of “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” and Somethings Comin” for the master class in the afternoon.  

 

Call time for the performing chorus is 3 pm  (this was the new time announced at the end of the meeting) at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square in the convention space there. Attire for the two classes where we sing will be the black camp shirt, jeans, black shoes and sox. Attire for the Saturday night show (that will immediately follow the finals of the quartet contest) will be the blue suit pants and vest, white shirt, orange tie, black shoes and sox.  Plus chorus members should plan to wear the new third place bronze medals they received in Charlotte. We will have our own room to assemble in and change – especially good since many men are not staying at the headquarters hotel. 

 

Finally, Joe shared the latest plans for the sing and social time with Alfred Street Baptist Men’s Choir.  It will be on Wed. Oct. 12^th at SRT and Joe stressed that if a singer can only make it out one night that week, he should come to the sing with Alfred Street.   Their choir has invited another chorus and we will be inviting some other area barbershop chapters to join us.  Dean Rust is organizing this effort and Clyde Crusenberry is organizing the refreshments part of the night (he asked for a couple volunteers to bring coolers.)  

 

Then Joe invited the chorus to start work on JINGLE BELLS – sectionals for 20 minutes and then sectional duets (lead and bass / bari and tenor) for 20 minutes. When the four sections reconvened on the risers, Joe was astonished at how well the chorus was doing on a totally brand new song. 

 

The business portion of the meeting started with Jason Lee announcing his participation along with Mario Sengco in a musical in DC.  It is the US premiere of "The Mould That Changed The World," a musical about Sir Alexander Fleming, the discovery of penicillin, and antibiotic resistance. While the leads are West End actors, the ensemble is made up entirely of scientists and health care professionals. Mario and Jason are performing in shows on Tuesday, 10/18; Thursday, 10/20; and Sunday, 10/23. Tickets and more information can be found at https://www.mouldthatchangedtheworld.com.

 

Terry Reynolds confirmed that the promised Zoom call to discuss using Facebook Live to share with members who cannot attend rehearsals will be scheduled soon.

 

Jack Pitzer welcomed guests on behalf of membership director Jacob Broude: Kevin Mendez who has moved to DC from Nashville and is bari in WILDFIRE quartet that earned 17^th place in Charlotte; Owen Michael Kelly – Mike’sgrandson; Mary Ann – Dennis Ritchey’s Mom; Henry Chow and Kathleen Chow back for a repeat visit; Jonathan Rojas – son-in-law of Ike Evans; David Jacobs who is president of the Gainesville, FL, Chapter and visiting in DC; and Jim Gammon – former Harmonizer who has been in DC for a few weeks on family business but will be returning to his home.

 

Chris Huber shared that Doug White has driven his truck to FL, towing his boat, so he can help his father-in-law who is stranded on Sanibel Island.  

 

Jack shared the message that Dave and Mirium Barton are safe and secure after their building sustained some outside damage in Cape Coral during the storm, but that she had fallen recently and is having back pain. 

 

Will Cox directed the “Harmonizer Welcome” song.

 

Next there was more chorus work on “JINGLE BELLS” and then some work on “Gloria.”

In other news from the chapter:  The 2023 Nominating Committee has completed its work in finding candidates to serve on the Harmonizers' chapter board for the coming year.  The nominees are: President: Noah Van Gilder;Treasurer: Terry Reynolds; Secretary: Cy Shuster; Members At Large: Dave Kohls, Joshua Baumgardner, Turner (TJ) Arndt, John Greene, Devin Gerzof and Carolyn Griffin (who will serve as Vice President of the board)

Here are the bios of the candidates:

Noah Van Gilder (President) will serve his second term as president. His previous leadership roles for the Harmonizers include one term as vice president for marketing and public relations and three terms as board member at large. In his professional life, Noah is a policy analyst for the federal government. He graduated as a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 2006 and as a Master of Public Administration from the George Washington University in 2012.

 

Terry Reynolds (Treasurer) has been a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers since 1992 and has served in numerous musical and leadership positions including Executive Director, President, Treasurer, Music & Performance VP, and Front Row Captain. He has been Associate or Assistant Director for over 20 years. He currently manages the activities and operations of the Music Team for Artistic Director Joe Cerutti. Terry has held numerous positions with the Barbershop Harmony Society serving on the Leadership Operations Project Team (LOPT), Chorus Director Development Committee, as a Certified Trainer for Chorus Director Workshop Intensive (CDWI), and on the Leadership Academy Training Faculty for President and for Music and Performance. Terry is an IT Specialist and Data Analyst for the consulting company Deloitte, supporting US Government clients. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

 

Cy Shuster(Secretary) joined the Harmonizers last fall, moving here from New Mexico to be closer to family. In Albuquerque, he competed under the direction of Farris Collins and Tony Sparks in Duke City Sound. He is in the twentieth year of operating his business as an independent piano tuner/technician, and got into barbershop a decade ago by singing in a pickup chorus with Scott Kitzmiller (father to Kyle and Kohl) at the annual piano technician conventions, where he now teaches. He has served on the boards of several nonprofits. He grew up in the mountains of southern New Mexico, and then lived in California for 25 years, both north and south. In his prior career, he designed and developed software for more than thirty years for companies such as Lotus, Borland, Ashton-Tate, Hughes, Citicorp, and Autodesk, going all the way back to the days of punched cards. 

 

Dave Kohls (Member-at-Large) has been associated with the Harmonizers since 2011 and has served on the Alexandria Harmonizers, Inc. board as a community board member since 2020. Dave is a psychologist with a private practice in Alexandria, VA, providing both clinical services to individuals and consulting services to industry and government. Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in physics, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and a doctorate in clinical psychology. Although Dave no longer sings in public, he is passionate about the power of music to enrich lives and improve our communities.

 

Devin Gerzof (Member-at-Large) has been a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers since the fall of 2019. He began his tenure on the BHS board in 2021. Devin works on Capitol Hill for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. While at Georgetown, Devin sang with the Georgetown Chimes, the campus' only all-male acapella group. Devin developed his barbershop roots with the Chimes and is excited to continue his post-college involvement in barbershop harmony with the Harmonizers. He attended Georgetown University for his bachelor’s degree in Government and Psychology.

 

Joshua Baumgardner (Member-at-Large) will continue as a community member on our board.  He enjoyed a diverse career, performing both operatic, concert, and choral works across the United States and briefly in Germany. Joshua had the distinct pleasure of being a young artist with Opera North, the Mittelsächsiches Theatre, and the American Wagner Society as well as a regional finalist for the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Joshua also enjoyed a career teaching voice alongside his career singing. He now enjoys a career as a full-time realtor with TTR Sotheby's International Realty, and still performs as a soloist on occasion at the request of conductors with whom he has worked previously. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from James Madison University and his M.M. from Florida State University, where he was awarded the HannahBeaulieu prize for vocal excellence.

 

John Greene (Member-at-Large) is not new to the Harmonizers, having been a member for 8 years, and will serve a second term as a community board member. He is retired after a 34-year career with the United States Copyright Office (Library of Congress) during which time he studied business administration at Central Michigan University. He has sung and performed (vocal and instrumental) most of his life. He is a current parishioner of The Alfred Street Baptist Church where he serves as president and member of the Handbell Choir and two vocal choirs. He went to Howard University where he received his Bachelor of Music Education degree.

 

Carolyn Griffin (Member-at-Large) will also continue as a community member for our board.  She is the Producing Artistic Director of MetroStage where she has been since its founding in 1984. During that time, she has produced over one hundred main stage productions, including seventeen plays and musicals. She has chaired both the Alexandria Arts Forum, which she co-founded, and the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, served on regional panels for both the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Kentucky Arts Council and various other arts boards. She has received numerous awards including the Actors Center Award of Distinction, the Award of Harmony from the Alexandria Harmonizers, the Helen’s Star from theater Washington, and was named a “Living Legend” by the Alexandria Gazette Packet and Alexandria Rotary Club. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the George Washington University, a Master’s degree in Psychology from Catholic University and an MBA from Georgetown University.

 

Turner Arndt (Member-at-Large) has been a Harmonizer since February 2019 and a BHS member for 8 years. He is currently on the chorus music team, serving as visual leader for the chorus. Turner is a Civil Engineer working for a specialty subcontractor in Manassas, VA and has a Bachelor's Degree in Construction Engineering and a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering, both from the University of Alabama. In addition to his time spent at work and with the chorus, Turner coaches for a high school rowing program in Fairfax County and is passionate about staying physically active and getting outdoors.

The chapter election will be held during the business meeting at our rehearsal Tuesday, October 18.  Please try to attend so that we can reach a quorum.

Thanks to Dave Kohls and Bruce Roehm for their work in serving on the committee - Stan Quick, nominating committee chairman.

Frank Fedarko won the 50/50 this week.  Everyone was asked to pitch in to load the risers onto the Harmo Truck so they could be taken to Lancaster. The meeting ended with Kevin Mendes  directing “Keep the Whole World Singing” followed by the traditional cheer – “1-2-3 IT’S GREAT TO BE A HARMONIZER.”

 

Joe explained that there are repairs being done at the Hamro House so this week’s afterglow  was moved to Ramparts.  A dozen folks gathered for the Taco Night Specials and/or wings.

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Looking Back on the September 27th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the September 27^th 2022 Harmonizer Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

It was a very busy night at the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) with the Harmonizer working on their holiday show music in the auditorium, and the very first gathering of Metro Voices project chorus in the board room. 

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti and Tessa Walker worked with the dozen singers present for the launch of this new ensemble. There were a number of singers present that were brand new to barbershop singing, and there were a few singers that have been part of the Harmonizer family for a while. 

 

Metro Voices will meet every other week on Tuesday at SRT until the Harmonizer holiday show when they will likely sing a song on that show. 

 

For the Harmonizer rehearsal, associate director Tony Colosimo did a warm up session to kick off the singing. Some men wore masks at the request of chapter leadership based on exposure to COVID last weekend. Members who could not attend this week were connected via Facebook Live.  

 

Before Joe started working on this week’s music, he thanked the many men who took a few seconds to respond to the latest Pulse Survey.  The music and chapter leadership appreciated the candid suggestions and helpful responses and those leaders will meet soon to review and consider implementation. Terry Reynolds will also send out another survey to get a read on the use of Facebook Live. 

 

Singing got underway this week with sectionals to dust off  “Caroling, Caroling,” “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” and “Mary Had a Baby.” The chorus returned to the risers to sing those songs. 

 

Joe explained all the music that will be sung at the M-AD contest and convention in Lancaster, PA, Oct. 7 and 8.  He suggested that if it makes it easier for some singers to participate, the chorus members only needed to be up there for the afternoon and evening on Sat. Oct. 8. The only songs that will be sung are “Never Fully Dressed,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Circle of Life” for the Saturday night show; plus a couple simple songs “Sweet and Lovely” and “Heart of My Heart” for a class for training new directors training; and parts of “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” and Somethings Comin” for the master class in the afternoon.  Executive director Randall Eliason reminded members about the expansion of a housing block (reported in a recent email to all members from the district leadership). 

 

Next week the chorus will work on a couple of new songs – “JINGLE Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”  The learning process of sectionals and small group listening sessions will be used again.

 

Joe announced that there will be five chances for solos on the holiday show, and four chances for a quartet to sing. Volunteers should speak with Terry right away to express interest.  If any organized chapter quartet wants to do a full number on the show, also speak with Terry. 

 

Finally, Joe shared the latest plans for the sing and social time with Alfred Street Baptist Men’s Choir.  The Alfred Street leaders reached out to Joe to express their eagerness to organize another gathering of men to sing together.  It will be on Wed. Oct. 12^th at SRT.  They have invited another chorus and we will be inviting some other area chapters to join us.  Dean Rust is organizing this effort and Clyde Crusenberry is organizing the refreshments part of the night.  Some of the Harmonizers should expect to lend a hand as needed. 

 

The business portion of the meeting started with chapter secretary David DesPortes presenting a 27-year membership renewal to Randall Eliason. Joe did a quick “factoid” from a Harmonizer Hero form that a member had submitted. This time it was from Jason Lee’s form.  We learned about his important work at John Hopkins, that he has done two marathons, and that he has been singing since he was five. 

 

Then membership director, Jacob Broude welcomed guests – former members Toby Molander from Sweden and Jim Gammon, who were in town for a bit; and Jonathan Rogas, son-in-law of Ike Evans.  Terry Reynolds directed the “Harmonizer Welcome Song.”

 

Next there was more sectional work on “Gloria” followed by the whole chorus singing it.

 

The meeting ended with Sheryl Berlin directing “Sweet and Lovely” to sing out the night.

 

Joe welcomed all to the afterglow at the Hamro House which was well attended.  Amazing how fast the Harmonizers can inhale four or five pizzas!

 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)