Looking Back on the Oct. 8, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting and Launch of Capital Force

 Looking Back on the Oct. 8, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting and Launch of Capital Force   

The latest milestone event for the Alexandria Chapter was the launch of Capital Force – a youth chorus for students in grades 9-12.  The launch was on Sunday, Oct. 6 at Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street in Alexandria, from 2:30-4:30 pm.

There were 13 youth singers who attended the launch event. Some of them were accompanied by their parents. 

A team from the AACC musical leadership was on hand to manage the event. Tessa Walker is the main director for this ensemble. She was aided by Susan Fitzpatrick, Sheryl Berlin, Samantha Tramack, Maggie McAlexander, David Breen and Julien LeFlore.

The afternoon session started with welcoming and issuing of name tags, then warm up exercises for physical, mental and vocal. There were light refreshments for students and parents too. A quartet with David, Julian, Maggie andSamantha sang for the students. The music team helped Tessa with vocal placements and icebreaker activities. 

All singers were given sheet music for “You Can’t Stop the Sun” and “It’s You I Like.”  The singers worked in sectionals with Maggie for tenors, Tessa with leads, Samantha with baritones and Julian with basses. At the end of the rehearsal, Capital Force sang parts of both songs.  The sound was great and the students, and parents too, were all excited! 

The next session for Capital Force will be Sunday, Oct. 20^th, 2:30-4:30 at Fairlington Presbyterian.

There was a previous version of Capital Force as a youth chorus in Alexandria, beginning in 2010 as best as Alan Wilecan recall.  Tony Colosimo was the organizer and director. Administrator was Patrick Kim. Members were 30 years old or younger (Joe was a singer as was Kellen Hertz from the main chapter, and Alan’s 11-year-old grandson, Thomas Miller.). The youth chorus competed at the BHS midwinter conventions for evaluation only at Las Vegas in 2011, and at Orlando in 2013.

The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8  was at AlexRenew.  Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, led the warm up sessions for both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles. He used a new vocal exercise for this warm up session.  He welcomed Chuck Miller back to the meeting after she and her husband have returned to the DC area following a health scare; Jack Pitzer also back after a recent stroke; and former active members Rich Payton and Jimmy Miotto.

Joe also acknowledged the successful 2024 launch of Capital Force with kudos to Tessa Walker, their director. He also expressed his appreciation to those who sang and coordinated the recent appearance of the chorus at Art on the Avenue.

He was excited to announced a harmony fellowship event, MAD TAGS, set for Saturday, Oct. 26, starting at 3 pm and ending when the tag singers fade! It will be at Honey’s Harvest Farm in Lothian MD. There will be a food truck.  Cost is $35 per person. Organizers of this fun singing event include Bob Bates, David Wilt, David Breen, Steve White, andTony and Elizabeth Colosimo. It is also possible to get a room at the event. 

Before announcements, the two ensembles met separately, they worked in sectionals on “Gloria” for the holiday show list, then came together to sing it.

 The following announcements and reminders were made by chapter leaders:

Next week's rehearsal on Oct. 15 will be at Beth El Synagogue.

Terry Reynolds encouraged members to sign up to sing for the Honors Flight performance. Songs for that appearance were rehearsed after this week’s meeting. Harmonizers performing at Reagan National Airport for Honor Flights on Oct. 19 will only need to provide their full name and date of birth beforehand to get through security that morning. We will sing “Armed Forces Medley” and ‘God Bless America” and sheet music will be available for those who need to use it. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed new AACC member, Katie Raimonde to Metro Voices!

Returning guests were Josh Berenhaus and Rob Santine. First-time guests were Dan, Caleb and Lewis Jacobson (Dad is Dan), and Nerissa Yui.  Terry Reynolds directed the “Welcome Song” for guests.

After the business session, Joe shared his excitement for another men’s fellowship for the Harmonizers with Alfred Street Men’s Choir from Alfred Street Baptist.  The gathering will be at their church next Wed, Oct. 16  (Joe says if you can only make it to one event next week, come to the church). They are great hosts and offer refreshments after the singing.  Both groups will sing two songs the Harmonizers will sing “Calling Dreams” and “Sit Down You’re Rockin the Boat” and we will teach them “Keep the Whole World Singing.” 

For the rest of the evening, both ensembles worked on the holiday show repertoire songs. 

A REMINDER FOR ALL  MEMBERS: The Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, October 15, as part of our Tuesday night rehearsal. Rehearsal will begin at 7pm.There will be one item on the agenda: to elect the 2025 Chapter Board of Directors. The slate, as selected by the nominating committee and accepted by the president, is as follows:

• President: Craig Kujawa
• Vice President: Ashley Merryman
• Secretary: Cy Shuster
• Treasurer: Terry Reynolds
• Member at large: Carolyn Griffin
• Member at large: Mary Cooper
• Member at large: Michael Berkson
• Member at large: Betsy Mullins
• Member at large: Cody Leihgeber-Carpenter
• 
  

I encourage all members, whether currently active with the choruses or not, to attend in person to help ensure the presence of a quorum. (Besides, we miss you and we’d love to see you.) Noah Van Gilder
President, Alexandria A Cappella Collective (Alexandria Chapter, BHS)

In other news, the AACC ensembles sang at Art on the Avenue, Sat, Oct. 5, the annual multicultural arts festival on Mount Vernon Avenue in the historic Del Ray neighborhood. A large crowd enjoying the beautiful weather and variety of events stopped by to listen to Metro Voices, the Harmonizers and the combined AACC chorus.

 

E.J. Herold, Chad Ross and an ample crew of volunteers had the risers unloaded by 2:05 when Maggie McAlexandercalled singers for warm up in the gymnasium of the Mount Vernon Recreation Center. 

Several members travelled by metro and shuttle; others Uber and a few by bicycle. Many had a good walk after parking some distance away. After warm-up, the choruses separated for final touches while the riser crew moved the risers to the stage and set them up immediately following the departure of the previous group. 

Metro Voices sang “Happy Together,” “On the Wayside,” “Sing/Swing” and “After You Who” under the direction of Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander. Harmonizers sang “Rockin’ the Boat,” “World Goes Round,” “Calling Dreams” and “New York New York” under the direction of Terry Reynolds.  AACC combined sang “I’m Still Standing,” “Hey Jude” and “Why We Sing.” Thanks to Matt Ambler and Rick Savage for solos. 

As program announcer, Terry Reynolds introduced the songs and plugged the startup of the youth chorus and plans for a seniors chorus.  General manager, Susan Fitzgerald, was on hand to greet visitors and provide more information about joining the chorus, upcoming shows or other ways to support AACC. After the performance, several AACC members engaged with guests while others broke down the risers and loaded the truck. (Thanks to Don Harrington for this report from Arts on the Avenue.)

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

Looking Back on the Oct. 1, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

Looking Back on the Oct. 1, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting  

(Thanks to Ashley Merryman, Mark Oswald and Bruce Roehm for taking notes this week since YeEd was recovering from a stroke on Sept. 25^th.  Thankfully it was mild and no serious results!!)

 The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 2  was at AlexRenew.  Artistic director, Joe Cerutti,led the warm up sessions for both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles.

 The following announcements and reminders were made by chapter leaders:

Both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices will be singing at Art on the Avenue, Saturday, Oct. 5. Call time is 2 pm inside the Mount Vernon Rec Center, 2701 Commonwealth Ave, Alexandria. Performance starts at 3 pm. Uniform is AACC t-shirts.

Next week's rehearsal on Oct. 8 will also be at AlexRenew.

Harmonizers performing at Reagan National Airport for Honor Flights on Oct. 19 will only need to provide their full name and date of birth beforehand to get through security that morning.

The first holiday and combined song everyone rehearsed was “Gloria,” with some members of both ensembles trying out different voice parts.

 The chapter business session was conducted by Stan Quick:

In addition to Art on the Avenue this weekend, we have committed to doing the Asbury Methodist Village performance on Oct. 27. However, both gigs currently have only a minimum number of singers signed up to attend, so if any of the "maybes" or anyone who has not RSVP'd to either event can make either one, please update your plan on Groupanizer *and* let Terry Reynolds know ASAP (especially for this Saturday's performance).

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed new AACC members, Annie Ermlick to Metro Voices, and Suranjan Sen to the Harmonizers!

Returning guests were Josh Berenhaus, Katie Rainmode, and Rob Santine. First-time guests were Daniel Egger andJacqueline Burke.  Maggie McAlexandrer directed the “Welcome Song” for guests.

After the business session, the Harmonizers started rehearsing some of our returning holiday music from last year, “Let it Snow” and “Deck the Halls.” During this time, Calvin Schnure led sectionals for each voice part on the new Hebrew song, “El Yivneh Hagalil.” Then we spent some time working on “Here Comes Santa Claus” and finished the evening with all parts together on “El Yivneh.”

Metro Voices began their rehearsal with a discussion about the fall show, giving particular kudos to show producer, Catherine LaValley!  Maggie directed their rehearsal which included work on their new audition song, “It’s the Magic that Brings Us Together.”  They concluded their work session with holiday music also. 

After the 50-50 drawing, the combined ensembles sang “Keep the Whole World Singing” directd by Ike Evans.

AACC members did well at the fall Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) contest in York, PA, Sept. 27-28. The quartet contest was won by SECRET BEST FRIENDS with former member, Will Daniel Simmons, as bass. Second place was won by PRAXIS with Lance Fisher and David Breen (they sang an original parody by Lance for the finals). Third place was won by BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo, and Heather and Andrew Havens.  

 

Rick Taylor sang with LEGACY; former member Spencer Wight sang with MADHATTAN; Scott Beach and Mike Geipel sang with MENTAL NOTE.

 

PARKSIDE HARMONY won the chorus contest.  Mike Wallen directed The Virginians chorus. 

 

The judging panel included Joe Cerutti, Steve and Renee Tramack.  Tyler Carpenter was a candidate judge at the contest too. 

 

And a huge congratulations to Tony Colosimo who was inducted into the M-AD Hall of Honor at the convention.  

 

Plus congratulations to Dennis Ritchey who retired as events coordinator after years of service in that position at M-AD contests and conventions.  His replacement is fellow chapter member, Ken Rub.

ALL MEMBERS NOTE: The Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, October 15, as part or our Tuesday night rehearsal. Rehearsal will begin at 7pm.There will be one item on the agenda: to elect the 2025 Chapter Board of Directors. The slate, as selected by the nominating committee and accepted by the president, is as follows:

• President: Craig Kujawa
• Vice President: Ashley Merryman
• Secretary: Cy Shuster
• Treasurer: Terry Reynolds
• Member at large: Carolyn Griffin
• Member at large: Mary Cooper
• Member at large: Michael Berkson
• Member at large: Betsy Mullins
• Member at large: Cody Leihgeber-Carpenter

I encourage all members, whether currently active with the choruses or not, to attend in person to help ensure the presence of a quorum. (Besides, we miss you and we’d love to see you.) Noah Van Gilder
President, Alexandria A Cappella Collective (Alexandria Chapter, BHS)

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.Looking Back on the Oct. 1, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting  

(Thanks to Ashley Merryman, Mark Oswald and Bruce Roehm for taking notes this week since YeEd was recovering from a stroke on Sept. 25^th.  Thankfully it was mild and no serious results!!)

 The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 2  was at AlexRenew.  Artistic director, Joe Cerutti,led the warm up sessions for both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles.

 The following announcements and reminders were made by chapter leaders:

Both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices will be singing at Art on the Avenue, Saturday, Oct. 5. Call time is 2 pm inside the Mount Vernon Rec Center, 2701 Commonwealth Ave, Alexandria. Performance starts at 3 pm. Uniform is AACC t-shirts.

Next week's rehearsal on Oct. 8 will also be at AlexRenew.

Harmonizers performing at Reagan National Airport for Honor Flights on Oct. 19 will only need to provide their full name and date of birth beforehand to get through security that morning.

The first holiday and combined song everyone rehearsed was “Gloria,” with some members of both ensembles trying out different voice parts.

 The chapter business session was conducted by Stan Quick:

In addition to Art on the Avenue this weekend, we have committed to doing the Asbury Methodist Village performance on Oct. 27. However, both gigs currently have only a minimum number of singers signed up to attend, so if any of the "maybes" or anyone who has not RSVP'd to either event can make either one, please update your plan on Groupanizer *and* let Terry Reynolds know ASAP (especially for this Saturday's performance).

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed new AACC members, Annie Ermlick to Metro Voices, and Suranjan Sen to the Harmonizers!

Returning guests were Josh Berenhaus, Katie Rainmode, and Rob Santine. First-time guests were Daniel Egger andJacqueline Burke.  Maggie McAlexandrer directed the “Welcome Song” for guests.

After the business session, the Harmonizers started rehearsing some of our returning holiday music from last year, “Let it Snow” and “Deck the Halls.” During this time, Calvin Schnure led sectionals for each voice part on the new Hebrew song, “El Yivneh Hagalil.” Then we spent some time working on “Here Comes Santa Claus” and finished the evening with all parts together on “El Yivneh.”

Metro Voices began their rehearsal with a discussion about the fall show, giving particular kudos to show producer, Catherine LaValley!  Maggie directed their rehearsal which included work on their new audition song, “It’s the Magic that Brings Us Together.”  They concluded their work session with holiday music also. 

After the 50-50 drawing, the combined ensembles sang “Keep the Whole World Singing” directd by Ike Evans.

AACC members did well at the fall Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) contest in York, PA, Sept. 27-28. The quartet contest was won by SECRET BEST FRIENDS with former member, Will Daniel Simmons, as bass. Second place was won by PRAXIS with Lance Fisher and David Breen (they sang an original parody by Lance for the finals). Third place was won by BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo, and Heather and Andrew Havens.  

 

Rick Taylor sang with LEGACY; former member Spencer Wight sang with MADHATTAN; Scott Beach and Mike Geipel sang with MENTAL NOTE.

 

PARKSIDE HARMONY won the chorus contest.  Mike Wallen directed The Virginians chorus. 

 

The judging panel included Joe Cerutti, Steve and Renee Tramack.  Tyler Carpenter was a candidate judge at the contest too. 

 

And a huge congratulations to Tony Colosimo who was inducted into the M-AD Hall of Honor at the convention.  

 

Plus congratulations to Dennis Ritchey who retired as events coordinator after years of service in that position at M-AD contests and conventions.  His replacement is fellow chapter member, Ken Rub.

ALL MEMBERS NOTE: The Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, October 15, as part or our Tuesday night rehearsal. Rehearsal will begin at 7pm.There will be one item on the agenda: to elect the 2025 Chapter Board of Directors. The slate, as selected by the nominating committee and accepted by the president, is as follows:

• President: Craig Kujawa
• Vice President: Ashley Merryman
• Secretary: Cy Shuster
• Treasurer: Terry Reynolds
• Member at large: Carolyn Griffin
• Member at large: Mary Cooper
• Member at large: Michael Berkson
• Member at large: Betsy Mullins
• Member at large: Cody Leihgeber-Carpenter

I encourage all members, whether currently active with the choruses or not, to attend in person to help ensure the presence of a quorum. (Besides, we miss you and we’d love to see you.) Noah Van Gilder
President, Alexandria A Cappella Collective (Alexandria Chapter, BHS)

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

Looking Back on the Sept. 24 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Sept. 24 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting  

The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, September 24 was supposed to be a night to sing up and down King Street in Old Town Alexandria. But the rain never let up and so the leadership cancelled the event at 5 pm. (Likely no one else would be around town in the cold damp weather.)

But a few minutes later, artistic director, Joe Cerutti, send an invite via Slack inviting any members to join him, plus Tony Colosimo, Samantha Tramack and Craig Kujawa, to view the documentary, “Join or Die,” playing at Alamo Draft House in Loudon.  His invitation suggested that the topic was about people taking action to join things. His words, “It really provides a sense of identity for organizations like ours and why it’s important for us to continue the work we’re doing.  Duncan Peacock tipped Joe off about this documentary and Joe has seen it twice.  Thus he invited others to check it out too.

In other news from the chapter, word was received that past chapter president,, Bede Bender, died Monday in Florida.  His wife, Mary Kay, was also a leader in the chapter.  Bede joined the chapter in 1978 and was president in 1989. He was 88. More details likely to follow. 

Secondly, best of luck to our chapter quartets that will be competing at the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) fall convention in York, PA, this weekend. The quartets include MENTAL NOTE with Scott Beach and Mike Geipel; LEGACY with Rick Taylor; PRAXIS with Lance Fisher and David Breen; and BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo, and Heather and Andrew Havens.  Several other member will be participating as judges, district officials, back stage crews, and just regular tag singers!

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

Looking Back on the Sept. 21 , 2024 AACC Fall Show

 Looking Back on the Sept. 21 , 2024 AACC Fall Show   

The Alexandria A Capella Collective (AACC) fall show was at Bishop Ireton High School (BI), 201 Cambridge Rd. in Alexandria at 6 pm on Sat. Sept. 21. The theater venue is quite nice and the seating was great for the significant crowd of friends and patrons who attended.

Theme for this year’s show was Homecoming – an evening with family and friends.

The Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles each sang two sets of songs for the show, plus they combined for a fantastic finale set with “Defying Gravity” featuring Samantha Tramack, and “I’m Still Standing.”

Five great chapter-related quartets appeared on this year’s show too and wowed the audience: BETTER TOGETHER includes Elizabeth and Tony Colosimo and Heather and Andrew Havens; MIXTAPE includes Jenni Sheets Parsons, Dayve Gabbard, Brian O’Dell and Cy Wood; PRAXIS includes Kevin Clark, Francesco Logozzo, Lance Fisher and David Breen; PRATT STREET POWER includes Vince Sandroni, Ed Schubel, Ben Hawker and Darren Schmidt; and SWEET AND SOUR includes Christina, Samantha, Mert and Joshua Tramack.

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed the audience at 6 pm and introduced performing ensembles during the show. The tech crew was students from the BI theater department and they were great. Show producer was Catherine LaValley.  Also back stage was Greg Tepe and Ian Trent who helped as ‘quartet runner.’  Gary Cregan with DougWhite helped with the riser crew starting at 1:30 when the chapter was admitted into the school. Many members helped haul in risers and our equipment. Tony did the warm ups for the combined ensemble in the school band room.

Volunteer efforts in the lobby included general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick, with Kathy Kauffmann, Naida Harrington, Kitty Fedarko, Ellen Dellert, future member Rob Santine and shows director, Doug White.   This was the first AACC concert for Adele Jones, Ker Medero, and Brenden White.

The Harmonizers performed both of their contest songs from Cleveland including all the staging.  That meant Matt Zagorski  came to help dance for the weekend and Cy Wood took Randall Eliason’s place on the front row since Randall was overseas. The Harmonizers wore their new fifth place medals from Cleveland with the black/gray outfits for the show. The audience was totally wild at the end of “Lullaby” with the trio of Maggie McAlexander, Tessa Walker and Samantha Tramack.

Their sets also included “Sit Down You’re Rockin the Boat” with a solo by Lance Fisher and directed by Tony Colosimo; “But the World Goes Round’ and “Calling Dreams.” 

Metro Voices two sets were really great and well received also by the audience: “Happy Together” and “Sing Swing” which  Maggie directed.  Then “After You Who” and “Wayside.” They wore their combination color outfits for this show.

During the show, Joe enthusiastically promoted the launch of Capital Force – a seasonal youth chorus that will be part of the AACC chapter. The launch event is Sunday, Oct. 6.  Tessa Walker will be the youth chorus director

There was an afterglow party at Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington.  Many members and fans were there for the food and festivities – the Hall offered a couple great special afterglow sandwiches, there was lots of tag singing, and many attendees played pool and other games at the hall. The new AACC t-shirts were the comfortable dress code for the evening.

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

Looking Back on the Sept. 17 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Sept. 17 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting  

The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, September 10 was at Beth El Synagogue. Next week the AACC singers will meet at Market Square in Old Town Alexandria and sing around the city.

The Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles each warmed up separately this week and both rehearsed and prepared for their fall show performances on Sat. Sept. 21, at Bishop Ireton High School.  Call time is 1:30 pm.  Show time is 6 pm.

Holiday music work will begin on Oct. 1 at AlexRenew.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed our guests this week.  Six were returning guests: Annie Ermlick, Jim Wallace, Lynne Benedict, Katie Raimondo, Katie Rose, and Rob Santine. The members sang the chapter “Welcome Song” for guests.

 

Ian Trent got his new Harmonizer name tag and AACC t-shirt having pass his audition last week.

 

After “Keep the Whole World Singing” to end the meeting, singers were invited to an afterglow gathering at Rampart’s.  

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

Looking Back on the Sept. 10 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Sept. 10 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

(Thanks to Mark Oswald for taking notes this week.  YeEd)

The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, September 10 was at AlexRenew. Even with the election debate that night, there was good attendance of singers and guests.  

 

The Harmonizers and Metro Voices ensembles each warmed up separately this week and both rehearsed until the business meeting and announcements at the end of the night. Directors were excited about how well the show songs are being performed.

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, made some general announcements: There is just one more rehearsal (after this week) until we start doing only the holiday songs in rehearsals. After the fall show, the first song the Harmonizers will rehearse will be “El Yivneh Hagalil” (the one in Hebrew). The learning schedule for all of the holiday songs will be shared soon.

Next week's rehearsal will be at Beth El. Call time for the fall show will be 1:30 pm at Bishop Ireton High School. The following week (after the show) we will be singing in Old Town.

The two ensembles met together for the 50/50 drawing, then executive director, Stan Quick, conducted the business meeting. He reports that ticket sales for the fall show are going strong and the chapter team will be expanding new channels for selling tickets.

The deadline to sign up for Ireland is Friday, September 13, 2025 as the tour operator will be making the flight arrangements shortly.  Information on the main trip and the optional extension to include Northern Ireland have been sent out to the performing chorus on slack and via email.  Please contact Brad Jones via slack or at bwj.harmonizer@gmail.com if you have any questions. The link to sign up for the trip is Alexandria Harmonizers & Metro Voices in Ireland.

Chapter secretary, Heidi Krukowski, presented membership renewals to the following: Mary Cooper - 2 years; Jeanne Hillinck - 2 years; Elisabeth Cosh - 2 years; Leah Musico - 2 years; and Carl Kauffmann - 52 years.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed our guests this week.  Seven were returning guests: Annie Ermlick, Jim Wallace, Lynne Benedict, Trudi Gelfand,  Neal Connors, Katie Raimondo, and Ian Trent. First-time guests were Chris, Don and Rob. Maggie McAlexander directed the “Welcome Song” for guests.

 

President Noah Van Gilder presented the second round of the chapter Distinguished Service Awards for 2023.  The Oz Newgard Award for significant contributions to the music program was awarded to Samantha Tramack.  The Chapter Honor Award - for continuous service above and beyond what is expected was awarded to Tessa Walker.  The Chapter Memorial Award given for years of exemplary service to the chapter during his 20 plus years, and the highest award given by the chapter, was awarded to Ken Rub.

  

Catherine LaValley, fall show producer, offered these announcements about the fall show: 

 

1. We are in serious need of volunteers. Please consider asking family members to come help during the show. Guests too!

2. Make sure family and friends are buying tickets. 

3. The afterglow will be informal and held at Astro Brewing Co. in Shirlington. If you are bringing anyone under 21 they must get a wristband. Children (those under ~16 ) are not allowed in the building's basement.

4. We are promoting the show on all of our social media. 

5. Costumes for the fall show will be the same as what each ensemble wore in Cleveland.

Chapter leaders had a last minute plea for help to get more sign-ups for the launch of the Capital Force ensemble. Any help in getting it off the ground is very much appreciated!

 

Kevin Mendez directed “Keep the Whole World Singing” to end the meeting before folks headed over to the afterglow at the Harmo House

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

Looking Back on the Sept. 3 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Sept. 3 , 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, September 3 was back at AlexRenew. The risers were full with the combined ensembles.  Assistant director for Metro Voices, Maggie McAlexander, managed a great warm up session, used the ‘number’ vocal exercise and the “Gingham Gown” tag  learned last week.  She invited an octet off the risers to sing the tag. 

 

 Artistic director for AACC. Joe Cerutti, recognized Jacob Broude and the music team for hosting a great guest night last week. He was happy to see so many guests back on the risers.

He announced that two free tickets for the Harbor City show featuring FIRST TAKE were available first come – speak to Catherine LaValley.  

The chapter was asked to sing at the City of Alexandria’s First Night on New Years’ Eve, so Joe asked for a show of hands from AACC singers to get a read on how many singers could do a gig late afternoon or early evening.  Response was good, so stay tuned for more details.

Next week’s meeting, Sept. 10 will be at AlexRenew; Sept. 17 at Beth El; and Sept. 24 AACC will sing in Old Town Alexandria.

At this point the two ensembles worked on their own repertoire in preparation for the fall show, Sept. 21, at Bishop Ireton High School, (201 Cambridge Rd, Alexandria) featuring five local area quartets and the two AACC choruses. Theme for the show is Homecoming – an evening with family and friends. The show will run 6-8:15 pm followed by an afterglow. Chorus call will be 1:30 pm at the school.

They remerged to the risers and worked on combined songs with Samantha Tramack, director of Metro Voices, at the helm.

Chapter executive director, Stan Quick held the business session.  As a reminder, the fall show is just 18 days away. The two ensembles are singing really great for the show already. Ticket sales for the show are underway and chapter leaders are eager for ideas on how to reach more potential patrons. 

Show producer, Catherine LaValley, was busy during the rehearsal time to capture video of AACC singers at work preparing for the show – the footage to be used for promotion.  Thus the request for members to wear their AACC t-shirt this week.

Ken Rub is seeking a volunteer to work back stage, with him, at the fall Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) contest in York, PA, Sept. 27 28.  Expenses are covered.  See Ken about this chance to help the M-AD stage crew.

Stan reminded all that volunteers are needed for the fall show. It could be members who are not singing this show, or family members or friend.

Chapter secretary, Heidi Krukowski, presented a membership renewal to brand new member Adele Jones; and a 50-year lapel pin for Rick Savage. (Our chapter has a long tradition of giving a pin for a member who reaches the 50-year point.)

 

A riser crew had put up risers for both ensembles. Tyler Carpenter was prepared to engrave the medals for Harmonizers.

Alan Wile was set up to sell 50/50 tickets without his usual helper, Walt Page, who was in the emergency room on Monday, but is doing better as of Wednesday. Leaders also shared that Charlyne Miller reports that her husband is improving in a hospital in Tuscany, but needs to remain in the hospital a couple more weeks where they were vacationing.  Zag Sandler and his wife were in Portugal for their honeymoon vacation, and he fell and broke a hip. More details to come on his situation.

The AACC holiday show is set for Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 with afternoon show times, at Fairlington United Methodist Church. Work on the music for that show began this week during the ensemble rehearsals.

 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed six returning guests (Annie Ermlick, Jim Bradford, Lynne Benedicy, Katie Raimonde, Suranjen Sen, and Alessandra Daigneault)  and the AACC chorus sang the chapter “Welcome Song” to them, directed by Terry Reynolds. 

 

President Noah Van Gilder presented the 2023 Chapter Distinguished Awards.  He presented half of the awards this week and will wrap up the presentations next week.  Alan Wile, long-time awards program helper, had ordered the plaques and handed them to recipients as they were announced.

 

The president has the privilege to give Meritorious Service Awards. Noah awarded that award to Patricia Chow for her work to help launch Metro Voices and her contributions in many ways to take care of details for that ensemble.

 

New Note of the Year Award was presented to Maggie McAlexander for her work as a music team member since she joined.

 

The recipient of the Sandy Stamps “Open Arms” Award was given to Mary Cooper who sings with Metro Voices but has been an important member to welcome guests and singers in the larger chapter.

 

Lance Fisher and Sophie Clarke received the Ibbianne & Wilbur Sparks Award as a family unit that has made a difference in the chapter’s music program. 

 

After the second-half music rehearsal period, the ensembles reassembled for a 50/50 drawing and to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing, directed by Rick Savage. The usual afterglow was held at Harmo House.

 

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 76^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.