Looking Back on the Aug. 27, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

Looking Back on the Aug. 27, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

It was guest night for the Alexandria A Capella Collective on Tuesday, August 27, at Beth El synagogue. There were 12 guests with all levels of barbershop and singing experience. 

 

 Membership director, Jacob Broude, had promoted the event, and the music team prepared the Metro Voices and Harmonizers to sing for the guests. Many members brought guests – friends, co-workers, neighbors, relatives, former members, partners, and new acquaintances.  Chapter members wore their new AACC t-shirts. The program was well organized and there was a lot of fun.  The first half-hour of the night was just open for mixing and meeting the guests. 

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, did a warm up session for the AACC members and the guests on the risers. He explained, in general terms, the four parts we sing and asked members of each section to raise their hands so the guests could come stand near them if needed.  And he taught the guests the lip-trill exercise.

Assistant director of Metro Voices, Maggie McAlexander, taught a round (“Whose Pigs Are These”) and then taught the tag, “In a gingham gown you stole my heart away.” Then she invited an octet of singers to do it and then she added a guest on each part.  It was great!

A riser crew had started at 5 pm to get the risers from storage and set up at Beth El. There was a display table of chapter history materials, and Alan Wile and Walt Page were set up to sell 50/50 tickets. Tyler Carpenter was prepared to engrave the medals Harmonizers earned in Cleveland. Starting next week, members who want their medal engraved should bring it to him at the meeting and he will bring it back the next week. Cost is $5. 

Terry Reynolds welcomed everyone and extended greetings from artistic director, Joe Cerutti, who was in NYC.  Terry confirmed that tickets 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, are now on sale. 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.

 

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 will begin soon. The music is on Groupanizer and Joe encourages singers to get started on “Here Comes Santa Claus.”  New members will obviously want to start on other holiday songs.

 

Meetings September 6 and 13 will be at AlexRenew, 1800 Limerick Street, Alexandria. Members are asked to wear their AACC t-shirt again next week for promotional photos. 

 

Following the announcements, the two ensembles rehearsed their music in separate rooms until time for the evening program. Guests were given music to use in each ensemble’s rehearsal.

 

When everyone reassembled in the big hall, guests were invited to take seats and Metro Voices sang “On The Wayside” for them. 

 

While the Harmonizers took their places on the risers, Tessa Walker explained the formation event for Capital Force, our youth ensemble, on Sun. Oct. 6. She encouraged all members to take flyers far and wide to get students (grades 8-12) to register for the kick-off event. 

 

The Harmonizers then sang “Calling Dreams” followed by the combined ensembles singing “I’m Still Standing.”

 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Krukowski, presented membership renewal cards to the following: 2 years to Marsha Ansel; 3 years to David Hillinck; 7 years for Jacob Broude; 33 for Ken Rub; 44 for Dave Ermlick; 45 for Mick Stamps; 50 for Randy Lazear; and 59 for Jack Pitzer. (Hurray – thanks for all the handshakes!). 

 

There are two recent new members that come us as family members of a current singer.  Adele Jones, wife of Brad Jones, is a new bass singer for Metro Voices.  Brenden White is a new lead singer for the Harmonizers.  His dad, Steve, gave him his new membership card and his own AACC t-shirt, and invited Brenden’s Godfather, Rick Savage, to be up front for the presentation.

 

The AACC chorus sang the chapter “Welcome Song” to guests directed by Terry.

 

As a fun wrap-up to the evening, Devin Gerzof invited everyone to form in groups of about 10. Then there was a contest to see how many songs each group could sing that has the word, “Heart.”  Devin went from group to group and after about 5 rounds, only groups 1 and 2 were still in the contest.  Group 2 finally captured the title.  Many guests were the ones who offered or even sang the “heart” song for their group.

 

After the fun ice breaker activity, it was time for a 50/50 drawing and to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing, directed by Tony. There was big crowd at the Harmo House for the pizza and visiting and story-telling and tag singing. It was fun to have many guests there too.

 

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 Aug. 20, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Aug. 20, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

The Alexandria A Capella Collective met on Tuesday, August 20, at Beth El synagogue on Seminary Road. It was another great night with fantastic singing, great recall of contest stage presence plans, several guest singers and fun sectional duets for “I’m Still Standing.”

Next week Tyler Carpenter will resume engraving the medals Harmonizers earned in Cleveland. He gets it done almost while you wait and only costs $5. 

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, conducted warm up exercises for the combined ensembles and spent some time to clean up notes in the chapter “Welcome Song.”

Artistic Director Joe Cerruti, was happy with the preparation of songs 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. He reported that show tickets are now on sale. The show will run 6-8:15 pm followed by an afterglow. Chorus call will be 1:30 pm at the school.

 

Joe asked singers to go to Groupanizer after the meeting to sign up for the three appearances recently added to the AACC schedule: Arts on the Avenue in Del Rel area of Alexandria., Oct.5; Harmonizer sing for a Veterans Honor Flight arrival on Sat. Oct. 19; and a show at Asbury Methodist Village on Sunday, Oct.27. Don’t delay signing up.

 

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 will begin soon. The music is on Groupanizer and Joe encourages singers to get started on “Here Comes Santa Claus.”  New members will obviously want to start on other holiday songs.

 

Rehearsal August 27 will be at Beth El – which is also Guest Night for AACC. All members should invite a prospective singer – maybe even bring the guest to the venue. Meetings September 6 and 13 will be at AlexRenew.

 

Following Joe’s announcements, the two ensembles rehearsed their music in separate rooms until time for business. 

 

The business session was brief and Mary Cooper filled in for membership director, Jacob Broude, to introduce guests (Adele Jones, Ian Trent, Neal Connors, Harry Munroe and Trudy Gelfand)! Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices, directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.” It was good to see Stephen Gudauskas back

 

After business, the combined ensembles worked on “I’m Still Standing” is sectional duets sessions.  Joe and Maggieworked with the AACC leads and tenors; Tony and Samantha Tremack, director of Metro Voices, worked with the basses and baritones.  After a period, the director teams switched to work with the other voices. Then the ensembles combined to sing the song with the new techniques they had learned in the sectionals. 

 

For the rest of the evening, each ensemble worked more on their show music before coming back together for a 50/50 drawing and to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing, directed by Zak Sandler. The usual crowd was at the Harmo House for the pizza and visiting and story-telling and tag singing. It was fun to have our new guests there too.

 

In news outside the chapter meeting: A quartet of Harmonizers sang at the Lee Center in Alexandria on Thursday, Aug. 15, for a group of seniors participating in the Adult Day Care Center program. Carl Kauffmann, EJ Herold, Joel Golden and Cy Shuster sang the gig.  Dean Rust coordinated this community service event but got Covid and Cyfilled in for him as bass.  Dean reports that this community outreach effort helps us earn the arts grant recently received from the city for FY2025. The quartet sang the “National Anthem,” some Pole Cat songs and some Harmonizer standards like “Keep the Whole World Singing” and the “Welcome Song.” They also helped honor the veterans in the audience and shared info about the AACC chapter. As is often the case, the seniors were singing along with the quartet.

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 Aug. 13, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Aug. 13, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

The Alexandria A Capella Collective meeting on Tuesday, August 13. at AlexRenew was a busy one with lots of work on songs for the fall show. Tyler Carpenter filled in for Jacob Broude as membership director, and welcome guests. He also was busy engraving the new medals Harmonizer singers earned in Cleveland. (It is a great service - he gets it done almost while you wait and only costs $5.) Plus he was passing out new name tags for all singers with the new logos for the ensembles.

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, conducted warm up exercises for the combined ensembles.

Artistic Director Joe Cerruti, was happy to welcome so many guests back to sing with the choruses. He gave a big plug for the fall show, Sept. 21, at Bishop Ireton High School, (201 Cambridge Rd, Alexandria) featuring five internationally famous quartets and the two AACC choruses. A promotional blitz will happen soon. The show will have an early start so there is time for an afterglow.  There was a straw poll about afterglow attendance so the committee can plan accordingly for space. 

 

For those looking ahead to December, the holiday shows will be Sat. and Sun. Dec. 14 and 15, at Fairlington United Methodist Church.  Those performances will also have an early evening start time.  Joe encouraged singers to work on “Here Comes Santa Claus” to get a head start for that show.

 

Breaking news from Joe was word about the Harmonizers meeting an Honor Flight of Veterans from New York state, Sat., Oct. 19, in the morning. The chorus will sing the “Armed Forces Medley.” EJ Herold is helping coordinate.  (Word was also shared that a new arrangement of that song for the combine ensembles is coming soon.)

 

Remaining rehearsals for August include Aug. 20 at Beth El, and Aug. 27 at Beth El – which is also Guest Night for AACC. All members should invite a prospective singer – maybe even bring the guest to the venue. 

 

Following Joe’s announcements, the two ensembles rehearsed their music until time for business.

 

Tyler introduced returning guests (Adele Jones, Ian Trent, Neal Connors, Suranjan Sen, and Julian LeFlore)! Terry Reynolds directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.”

 

Joe also announced two possible shows and asked for a show of hands for how many would likely attend.  There were adequate numbers and parts, so sign ups can begin on Groupanizer for an Arts on the Avenue appearance ,Sat. Oct. 5; and a retirement facility appearance on Sun. Oct. 27. 

 

Chapter education director, Sheryl Berlin, distributed flyers for the kick off of Capital Force the first week in Oct.  The goal is to have 25 students.  The meetings will be at Fairlington Presbyterian Church every other Sunday from 2:30-4:30 until February. Everyone one needs to give this project some attention and push in order to launch. 

 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Krukowski, presented membership renewal cards to the following: Zak Sandler for three years; Scott Beach, 14 years; Frank Fedarko, 22 years; and Terry Reynolds, 41 years. 

 

After business, there was an icebreaker event for members to exchange their favorite Olympic story.  

 

Both ensembles worked more on their show music before coming back together for a 50/50 drawing and to sing “Keep the Whole World Singing, directed by Julian LeFlore. The usual crowd was at the Harmo House for the pizza and visiting and story-telling and tag singing. It was fun to have our new guests there too.

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 Aug. 6, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Aug. 6, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Meeting

(Many thanks to EJ Herold for taking notes this week! – YeEd.)

The Alexandria A Capella Collective met on Tuesday, August 6 at our AlexRenew rehearsal space with a large gathering of members and an encouraging number of guests. The evening began with Jason Lee conducting the warm-up and capturing the attention of all with his unique directing style and good humor.

 

Artistic Director Joe Cerruti, freshly returned from his duties at Harmony University (HU) in Denver, began the evening with a discussion of that experience and the many encounters throughout the week with barbershoppers animatedly complimenting the chorus performance in Cleveland! Video of the performance of the Harmonizer set was reportedly referenced in several classes throughout the week leading Joe and Tessa Walker to receive continuous praise for its artistry and creativity all week long. 

 

For background information: Joe was the BHS staffer at HU and he and Tessa were faculty for sessions during the weeklong barbershop school. Lance Fisher and Sofie Clarke also attended as students.  Prior to the start of HU, there was a candidate school for BHS members starting on their three-year trek to become certified judges.  Tyler Carpenter and Terry Reynolds attended as candidates to become admin judges and Maggie McAlexander attended as a candidate in the musicality category.

 

Related to the HU experience, there was a Mid Atlantic District (MAD) Harmony College-East (HCE) in June at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD.  Deans for that school were AACC members, Bill Colosimo and Sheryl Berlin.  Several other members were faculty and several of our quartets were there for coaching help prior to going to Cleveland. The quartets also were part of the great shows each evening of the school. Any members can attend HCE so mark the calendar for June 12-15, 2025, for a terrific opportunity for coaching, classes and barbershop harmony experiences. 

 

Continuing on the chapter meeting report: Joe discussed the fall show (Sep. 2021, at Bishop Ireton High School, 201 Cambridge Rd, Alexandria).  The repertoire for the choruses will feature current music with the addition of five international-qualifying quartets. These quartets (in no particular order) include BETTER TOGETHER (Tony Colossimo, Andrew Haven and their wives); PRAXIS (Lance Fisher and David Breen); SWEET AND SOUR (Samantha and Mert Tramack); MIXTAPE (Cy Wood); and local Baltimore quartet PRATT STREET POWER. 

 

Joe also mentioned that the holiday show will be performed twice (December 14 & 15) in late afternoon performances at Fairlington United Methodist Church (last December’s venue). The earlier time allows for a holiday afterglow for the choruses. 

Rehearsals for August include Aug. 13 at AlexRenew, Aug. 20 at Beth El, and Aug. 27 at Beth El – which is also Guest Night for AACC. All members should invite a prospective singer – maybe even bring them to the venue. 

 

Following Joe’s announcements, the two ensembles rehearsed their music until time for business.

 

First announcement from membership chair, Jacob Broude, was the creation of specified Slack channels for the sharing of common interests and building community. Becca Williams led an icebreaker where all members mimed their interests to locate their Slack-channel soul mates to predictably comedic effect. 

 

Jacob then announced the approved AACC (Harmonizer, Metro Voices, Capital Force and Vintage Blend) logos and branding color palette. These will be the AACC official identification going forward. although the Alexandria Harmonizer crest (and the 76-year historical record) remains active and the basis upon which we build going forward. 

 

Jacob introduced five returning guests (Brenden White, Adele Jones, Daniel Huitt, Ben Raja, and Josh Berenhaus); and welcomed eight first timers (Scott Dano, Ian Trent, Mallory Waters, Kathryn Martucci, Kyle Shutt, Neal Connors, Suranjan Sen, Shristi Nadkrni, and Spoorthi Nadkarni)! The members enthusiastically rang out the chapter’s “Welcome Song” with Maggie McAlexander’s able direction.

 

After business, the ensembles returned to rehearsal and the Harmonizers watched the video recording of the set from Cleveland. For many it was the first real appreciation for the visual impact of the treble trio and an opportunity to see the performance from the audience perspective. 

 

Joe commented on the shared pride of all the coaches who helped prepare the Harmonizers, to include: Dave Wright, Kevin Keller, Steve Tramack, Cy Wood and Dave McEachern, whose 11^th hour visit in Cleveland put the performers in peak preparation. Another honorable mention, enthusiastically seconded by Cleveland participants, went to Jason Lee for his inspiring warm-ups that really helped mentally prepare the chorus for competition. 

 

He also noted that the AACC is now fully recovered from the COVID period and back to anticipation of future activities to include having already chosen (but not announcing) the competition set for BHS International 2026. In all, an exciting evening of news and anticipation.

 

Following run through of the Cleveland competition set by the Harmonizers, particularly to familiarize those who did not perform in Cleveland, the ensembles rejoined for 50-50 and closed the evening with “Keep the Whole World Singing” led by Kevin  Mendez. 

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 July 24 and July 30 Sing Outs, 2024 for the Alexandria Chapter

 Looking Back on the July 24 and July 30 Sing Outs, 2024 for the Alexandria Chapter 

Members of the Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) and a sizable audience at Franconia District Park for the July 24 concert in the amphitheater waited out the light misting rain that started even after the sky seemed to be clear. But it finally stopped and the show went on without a hitch.

A riser crew had set things up and the county sound crew had set up too.  The speakers were taken down during the early rain but when leadership decided it was clear to go, everyone jumped into action. Luckily the Harmo Truck was near the stage for reloading the risers at the end.  The chorus actually did some quick runs of their songs during the light mist. 

Fairfax County Supervisor, Rodney Lusk, from the Franconia District, welcomed the audience and Terry Reynolds added details about the two ensembles.  Metro Voices started the show with five songs, then the Harmonizers sang five songs and then the combined chorus got the audience all excited with “Hey Jude” and “I’m Still Standing.”  The audience singalong was fun for all.

Samantha Tramack and Tony Colosimo were directors for the show and both thanked the audience for being there.  Many fans brought lawn chairs and there were some families who were having some food.  Lots of kids were there too.

There was also a plug or two for our fall show in September, and for the launching of the Capital Force youth chorus.  Members had flyers for that to share with anyone interested.

This week, on July 30, the AACC singers gathered at Market Square to warm up for the annual summer walk-and-sing in Old Town Alexandria.  Members wore their AACC black t-shirts. Jason Lee did warm ups for this week. Metro Voices sang “Fight Song” and “Happy Together” at each stop along King Street.  The Harmonizers sang “New York, New York” and “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” The combined ensembles sang “Hey Jude” and “I’m Still Standing.” Terry Reynolds and Samantha Tramack directed the songs. 

Great to have Chuck Hunter visiting this week plus Jim Kirkland and Aaron Simoneau, plus recent guests Daniel, Josh and Carl. 

Membership director, Jacob Broude, passed out flyers during the walk to promote the launch of Capital Force and to invite prospective singers to a chapter guest night.

The singers ended the evening at a local spot in Old Town Alexandria for an afterglow. 

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 July 23, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter

 Looking Back on the July 23, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter 

Finally back “home,” the Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) meeting on July 23 was back at AlexRenew.  

Two main events on the agenda for this week: review/prep for the sing-out on Wed. July 24 at Franconia District Park, 6601 Telegraph Rd., then break for all to have fun watching a movie, American Harmony. Refreshments were shared and everyone laughed and had a good time together.

Jason Lee did a warm up session for the combined ensembles and then Tony Colosimo directed them for a quick review of the songs for Wednesday night.

There were a few announcements: first was the reminder that the call time for the show at Franconia District Park amphitheater is 6:30 pm.  Chapter leadership will alert members as early as possible via Slack if the show is cancelled because of the weather. Singers will wear their AACC t-shirt with jeans or other dark slacks or shorts.  A riser crew is needed at 6 pm. The show starts at 7:30.  There is plenty of parking. Good idea for audience folks to bring a lawn chair, although there are benches facing the stage. 

Next week, July 30,  AACC will meet at 7:30 pm (NOTE THIS START TIME CHANGE) in Old Town Alexandria at Market Square, warm up the voices and then walk along King Street and go to the Waterfront, stopping every so often to sing a set of the songs. Members will wear their new AACC t-shirt. Each ensemble will sing a couple songs and the combined chorus will also sing. The stop at the entrance to the Torpedo Factory is usually a longer set since the acoustics are good there and there are usually lots of folks walking by that spot.  (There will not be a Looking Backreport for that event until the report for Aug. 6.)

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed five guests this week –three returning guests were Brenden White, Estela Zaffaroni, and Hanna Drobar; two first timers were Adele Jones (although not new to the chapter but a guest of Metro Voices), and Trudy Gelfand, who directs a church choir and asked her friend Mark Klostermeyer if she could come observe. Terry Reynolds directed the chapter “Welcome Song.”

The fall show will be Sept. 21 and it was announced that self-recordings will be required. 

Chorus medals were presented to six Harmonizers who did not get one yet. Tyler Carpenter will be engraving the medals the Harmonizers earned in Cleveland starting in August.  The cost is just $5 and includes the date, the event, the logo and the member’s name and voice part.  

In other news, on Saturday, July 20, a small ensemble of 16 Harmonizers sang at the celebration of life for Al Herman, long-time member since 1984, and many time chair of the finance committee/treasurer. Terry Reynolds was director for the appearance at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington. An ensemble of string players from the Arlington Philharmonic played when people gathered.  We sang after a welcome by the family present.  Al was a strong supporter for both the Philharmonic and the chorus where he sang bass. Al’s career was all based on law including his Air Force years. 

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 July 16, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Post Cleveland

 Looking Back on the July 16, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Post Cleveland 

There was no meeting of the Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) on July 9 so members could rest up and get back into their work and life routines. The meeting for July 16 was well attended and was a fun night to regroup and celebrate. This report will cover several outside-the-chapter events held after members returned home from the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) convention in Cleveland, too. 

Saturday, July 13^th was the retirement ceremony for Captain Craig Kujawa. USN at the National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington, DC. A group of 37 Harmonizers attended and sang the National Anthem as part of the traditional ceremony. Craig was honored during the ceremony for his work during his 32-year Naval career. His parents were able to attend and the Harmonizers sang Happy Birthday to his Dad, Ray. Guest speaker who recognized Craig’s work and dedication was Rear Admiral Thomas Wall, Commander, Submarines, NATO.  

Later on Saturday, chapters in the DC Metro area gathered to honor Sam McFarland for his 82^nd birthday. Several Harmonizers made it there as did members from others chapter such as Loudon, Fairfax, Mount Vernon, Richmond and Dundalk.  Sam has sung with most of these groups at some point, and so he was invited to sing with several groups – quartets and choruses - during the program part of the afternoon.  Rick Taylor was emcee. A great feast started things that was all part of the truly special event organized by Cliff and Gretchen Shoemaker. Sam has moved to a new address in Ashburn as of July 1 (contact YeEd if you would like his new address). 

On Sunday, July 14^th, there was a celebration of life for Jack Crickenberger who was an early Harmonizer and sang in one of the chapter’s first organized quartets, THE CONFEDERATE NOTES. He was 97. He joined the chapter in 1950 and was an active member until 1964 – although he came to visit the chapter often “to check on the boys” and keep in touch.   He promoted quartet singing his whole life through his choir.  He was a lawyer and provided legal services for some members over the years.  He arranged lots of music for quartets and the chorus but he never listed his own name as arranger – he used “N Fringer.” During the ceremony, his stepson recognized Jack’s barbershop background and his membership as a Harmonizer. 

As a side note from that ceremony, the minister of the St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, told some of us that he had grown up as a kid living next to Scott Werner in Dale City and new lots about the Harmonizers.  (YeEd contacted Scott that evening and he replied that he missed the Harmo gang and sent his greetings to all.)

This week’s meeting was organized as an education meeting with a variety of program options and was held at Beth El Synagogue on Seminary Road. Membership director, Jacob Broude, organized refreshments for the night too – lots of pizza, salads, sandwiches and sweets, plus cold beverages. Many hands helped set up and get the room ready for the meeting. Attendees were encouraged to get refreshments when the meeting started at 7, and as is typical, the AACC crowd devoured the chow in no time at all.

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed members of Metro Voices and the Harmonizers to this educational meeting and led a cheer for the Metro Voices success in the festival event in Cleveland.  He also encouraged everyone to watch the video of the Harmonizer performance and share the pride of being in this great chapter!  

He offered some other business matters for folks to add to their calendar: next week, July 23, the meeting will be back at AlexRenew, 1800 Limerick St., Alexandria. The plan for that night is to work on the songs the two groups will sing the next night, July 24, at Franconia Park, 6601 Telegraph Rd., Alexandria.  The concert is sponsored by the Fairfax County Supervisor for Franconia, Rodney Lusk. It will be in the outdoor amphitheater in the park.  There is lots of parking and benches for the audience – although many folks bring a lawn chair.  There are also picnic tables for anyone to use surrounding the amphitheater.  After working on the songs, the chapter will watch the movie “American Harmony.”

The meeting on July 30 will be a singing walk through Old Town Alexandria. Note the gathering time will be 7:30 pm, at Market Square. 

August meetings will concentrate on refreshing songs from the repertoire for the two ensembles to sing on the fall show scheduled for Sept. 21 at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria. News is that all of the chapter quartets will appear on the show this year! 

Joe and Terry also promised that music for the holiday show in December will be on Groupanizer later this week so that anyone can get a head start on learning or refreshing the music. 

The opening event for education night was the celebration of the 76^th anniversary of the Alexandria chapter’s chartering  – June 19, 1948. The original charter was on display for all to see. Chapter historian, Don Harrington, retold the story of how our founders met and launched the chapter.  He shared details from the 50^th anniversary book, Breathless Moments. The history committee recognized the chapter’s success as Barbershop Harmony Society leaders with a reminder of members who have been named to the BHS Hall of Fame – Bud Arberg, Wilbur Sparks, Dean Snyder, Darryl Flinn, Walter Latzko, and Alan Lamson.  Several other members of the Harmonizer family are also in the Hall of Fame including David Wright, Kevin Keller, Tony DeRosa, Greg Lyne, and Jim Henry. 

The chapter is also proud to have its first member honored as a recipient of the Joe Liles Lifetime Achievement Award – Joe Cerutti.

The history committee pledged to start building a history legacy for Metro Voices too and invited members of that ensemble to join the committee. Anyone interested should speak with Don or Jack Pitzer.  All the Metro Voices members present were also given a copy of Breathless Moments and the 75^th anniversary booklet.  

For the educational sessions. two breakout sessions were held for about 45 minutes. The first round was Cy Shusterand David Breen speaking and demonstrating “What Is An Overtone?” or Calvin Schnure explaining “What is a Brigade,” which many singers enjoy during the year. The second round was a debriefing from the BHS convention and contest with Joe inviting comments from members; or Ask FIRST TAKE any questions about their contest performances with Tony Colosimo plus  Andrew Havens and Drew Wheaton who were present via Zoom. 

Next was the skit from the Class of 2024 – a long awaited demonstration of their paying good attention at meetings and rehearsals. As is typical – it brought lots of laughs and played heavily on in-house jokes from the past few months. Thanks to Charlie Rothermel who reportedly pulled things together for his class! After the applause, the 2024 bandanas were discarded!

The final presentation for the evening was Terry Reynolds’ annual “nerd” or “geek” report and statistics about convention scores and placements and the history of the Alexandria chorus in International contests.  His final slide summarized the main points of his fun session: we’ve earned more third place medals than any other chorus (7); we are second in the total number of medals earned (21); we are tied for sixth in number of gold medals (4); we are the highest scoring eight place chorus in BHS history!; Metro Voices made a huge splash in their first International appearance; and finally, we have proven ourselves competitive at the highest levels while following a strategic plan that emphasizes community and de-emphasizes contest. 

After “Keep the Whole World Singing” the hall was cleaned up and chairs stacked, and Joe invited folks to the Harmo House for the afterglow.

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 June 30-July 7, 2024 Alexandria Chapter Time at the BHS International Convention in Cleveland, OH 

The Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) had a great week at the 2024 Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International Contest and Convention in Cleveland, OH. Many members of the chapter traveled on Monday, July 1 in order to be there for the major contests and events that kicked off on Tuesday.

There were sixty quartets in the quarterfinals round of the quartet contest with five quartets that had AACC members: WILDFIRE with Kevin Mendez; FIRST TAKE with Anthony Colosimo and Andrew Havens; SWEET & SOUR with Samantha Tramack and Mert Tramack; PRAXIS with Lance Fisher and David Breen; and MIXTAPE with Cy Wood. Three of our quartets made it into the semifinals round: FIRST TAKE, SWEET & SOUR, and PRAXIS. 

When the results were called out on Saturday night after the finals quartet round, FIRST TAKE had earned the second place silver medal from among the top ten finalists. Their total score for the three rounds was 6,688 points with a 92.9 average. Their performances were so classy and solid all week, always drawing their audience into their music.  For the finals round, they changed things for their final song and had a ton of fun singing, “No One Sings Higher Than Me,” and making the audience laugh (and taking a few digs at the judges and how a quartet can get a 100 points for a song  –Tony actually did a pratfall onto the stage floor!). 

The first place gold medalist quartet was “Three and a Half Men” that includes Tony DeRosa who has often coached the Harmonizer chorus and is a friend of many members of the chapter. Their score was 6,795 points with a 94.4 average. Third place quartet was GIMME FOUR from Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) that has helped with Harmonizer youth camp over the years. Fourth was THE LADIES which includes Kim Newcomb who coached Metro Voices, fifth was THE NEWFANGLED FOUR. There were two other M-AD quartets in the top ten – eighth was SECRET BEST FRIENDS (bass Will Daniel Simmons sang in the front row of our chorus before college), and ninth was SMOKE RING who sang at the chapter’s fundraising gala this year. 

For the chapter record, SWEET & SOUR placed 16^th, PRAXIS placed 20^th, MIXTAPE placed 22^nd and WILDFIRE placed 24^th. 

The two ensembles that currently comprise AACC had a very successful week as well as the chapter quartets.

Metro Voices was one of the eight groups competing in the International Chorus Festival and earned a Superior rating (score 80.3) and was named champion of this event. A great accomplishment! The ensemble is directed by Samantha Tramack, with assistant director Maggie McAlexander. 

They sang “After You, Who?” arranged by Carole Prietto, and “It Don’t Mean a Thing” arranged by Bev Sellers.  For their initial appearance at an International contest, there were fifteen singers on the risers: Becca Williams, Cadence Flaherty, Mireille Kouagan, Jeanne Hillinck, Lenna Jawdat, Tessa Walker, Heidi Krukowski, Patricia Chow, Elizabeth Cosh, Leah Musico, Maggie McAlexander, Sheryl Berlin, Sophie Clarke, Ashley Merryman, with Samantha Tramack as director. 

Metro Voices met a couple times early in the week for rehearsals and then on Thursday they started the day with warm ups conducted by Tessa Walker.  Their coach, Renee Tramack, met with them too. When it was time to depart for their 12 noon stage time, the Harmonizers formed a tunnel outside the rehearsal room for them to all walk through with high-fives and cheers. Everyone was wearing their new AACC t-shirt too. 

The chorus festival was in a large ballroom in the headquarters hotel. The hall was full when the Harmonizers arrived to clap and scream and cheer for them, and Metro Voices  hit a home run with their great singing and performance flair. 

Harmonizer rehearsals started on Wednesday, July 3.  President Noah Van Gilder welcomed everyone to join in the excitement of the week.  The chapter’s convention host, LeAnn Snyder, met us and give us details about the contest venue and plans for the week as a representative of the convention host committee. M-AD president, Steve Kirsch, stopped by and presented a monetary gift to the chapter from the district to help with expenses of both ensembles to represent M-AD at the convention. Chapter volunteer, Kathy Kauffmann, presented a token of encouragement to each member of the two AACC ensembles to carry in their pockets on stage to feel the support of the whole chapter family. 

Thanks to Gary Cregan and Cy Shuster for driving the Harmo truck to Cleveland and for coordinating the large crews of volunteers from the AACC ranks for getting risers and sound set up in Room 25. 

The Harmonizer contest package consisted of “The World Goes Round” arranged by Kevin Keller, and “Lullaby of Broadway” arranged by David Wright. Prior to this first rehearsal, the front row worked with choreography coach Cy Wood.  The wonderful choreography created by Cy was led by the front row which included front row captain Bruce Roehm, Ken Rub, Randal Eliason, Matt Ambler, Chad Ross, Terry Reynolds, Reed Livergood, Jacob Broude, Craig Kujawa, and Matthew Zorgoski who joined the front row coming from the 17^th Street Dance group of the Washington, DC Gay Men’s Chorus. Chapter choreo coach was Turner Arndt.

Both David Wright and Kevin Keller stopped in for a few remarks as did long-time coach, Cindy Hansen Ellis. Then Kevin and Cy each took a chunk of time to work with the whole ensemble. 

 

 

 

 

For the Thursday practice, the Harmonizers went back to their rehearsal room after cheering for Metro Voices.  Jason Lee did the warm up session for the chorus. David McEachern came to coach and added touch up points to the performance plan for the package. 

Friday morning’s 8:30 am rehearsal start time meant that Harmonizers got their breakfasts and brought their contest attire (black or gray suits and ties) to the Room 25 space that was used by both ensembles all week. The special trio of Tessa Walker, Maggie McAlexander and Samantha Tramack was already there with makeup and hair stylist friends from M-AD, Christi Willett and Meredith Glemboski, helping the trio get into their attire to fit the theme of the package. 

There was the traditional bandana check Friday morning for members of the Class of 2024 which included Mert Tramack, EJ Harold, Mark Oswald, Jimmy Miotto, William Vesilind, Ker Medero, Charley Rothermel, Jared Liscinsky, Kevin Mendez, Matthew Zagorski, Mireille Kouagou, Ashley Merryman, Dana Richardson, Leah Musico, Marsha Ansel, Catherine LaValley, Callie Cirillo, and Hannah Nesich. (Only those names in bold type competed in Cleveland.) This year’s blue bandana featured the new AACC logo. 

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo did the beginning warm up session followed by Jason Lee to finish preparing the chorus to sing. It was at this point that word came that fellow singer, Chuck Powell, was ill and not likely able to go on stage. (He did in fact improve in his room and was able to drive home safely.) 

 

About 9:30 am, all singers left the risers for the annual “building of a chorus by the year they first sang at International” starting with the Class of 1958 and ending with the Class of 2024 – honoring our past and celebrating our future!

 

The Harmonizers sang nineth in the first chorus contest session Friday.  They walked to the Cleveland Public Auditorium through tunnels and walkways to get to the stage.  They came onto the stage amidst huge cheers and applause from Metro Voices, lots of other M-AD members, and the general barbershop audience who know the Harmonizers would be a great presentation. Greg Tepe represented the chapter backstage for lighting cues. 

 

Great singing and movements including a special surprise appearance in the uptune of a treble trio – Maggie McAlexander, Tessa Walker and Samantha Tramack – who danced with the front row and sang several parts of the song with bass background. It was a fantastic special number with three gold medalist quartet singers!

 

The chorus received standing ovations for both songs and left the audience talking about a terrific performance.

 

There were two more chorus contest sessions – one Friday evening and one Saturday morning.  The results were announced at the end of the Saturday session and the Harmonizers were honored to have earned a fifth place medal with a score of 2,158 point with an average of 89.9. The Harmonizer fans erupted with wild cheering and applause.

 

As soon as everyone could get back to the chapter’s rehearsal room, there was the traditional ceremony to give each singer a medal.  Terry Reynolds called each singer’s name, and chorus manager for the week, Mark Klostermeyer, handed a medal to Joe to give to each man – after a big bear hug and congrats.

 

The first place chorus was The Westminster Chorus; second was Heralds of Harmony, third was Gotham from M-AD; and fourth was Parkside Harmony from M-AD. 

 

There were singers from the Harmonizer family in several of the other choruses too.  As risky as it is to try to report all of them, YeEd and his reporter team will try (sorry if we didn’t see someone on stage): Lynn Hineman with Heralds of Harmony; Lou Bergner with Harbourtown Sound and with Toronto Northern Lights; Donell Torres with The Recruits, with the Next Gen Mic Tester Chorus, and with the Ambassadors of Harmony for their swan song as last year’s chorus champs; Adele Jones, Brad’s wife, with the Dream Chorus directed by Greg Clancy; Erin Odell who directed the Visions of Harmony treble chorus from St. Charles, MO; TJ Donehue and Johan Westberg with Sound of the Rockies; Rich Payton with Space City; Chris Yates, Sean Devine, Jay Butterfield, and Fred Womer with Parkside Harmony; Rasmus Kingstrum with the AIC chorus; and Dan Cook and Jim Mathis with  Ambassadors swan song performance. 

 

Several members of the Harmonizer family were judges during the convention: Alan Lamson and Steve Tramack for the quartets and choruses; David Wright, Mo Field and Matt Fellows for the Next Generation Quartet contest; and Cy Wood for the Comedy Quartet Festival and the Chorus Festival.  Our M-AD friends, THE QUIN-TONES, placed seventh in the Next Gen contest; and M-AD friends, MADHATTEN, earned a Superior rating in the Comedy Quartet Festival with former Harmonizer, Spencer Wight, as their baritone. Donell Torres was tenor in the first place Next Gen quartet TOFU CONCERN. 

 

On the administrative side of things, there were several from the Harmonizer family who had extra duties. John Santora, BHS president, welcomed attendees at the first session. Kevin Keller was presenter for the quartet semifinals session and was elected president of BHS during the Monday BHS Board meeting. He will take office in January. Bill Colosimo served as nominating committee chairman for the BHS board, but he was on travel that day from Europe and so he asked Terry Reynolds, who is a member of the leadership development committee for BHS,  to fill in for him.  

 

Rick Taylor worked all week as a staffer for Harmony Foundation International. Chris Buechler and Steve Tramackattended Society Contest and Judging Committee meetings Sunday and Monday – Steve will become the next chairman of that committee.  

 

Joe Cerutti directed the US National Anthem at the session on July 4; was host for the Saturday evening Live Steam event; presented the awards for the Next Gen contest; and on Saturday he was name 2024 recipient of the Joe Liles Lifetime Achievement Award. The audience responded joyously and loudly with plenty of noise from all the AACC family present.

 

In his remarks of appreciation, he shared what an honor it was to be considered with the name of a hero to many - a leader of barbershoppers - Joe Liles.  “I am confident that my contributions would never have amounted to anything significant if the Alexandria Harmonizers hadn’t taken an enormous and life-altering risk hiring a 25-year old music educator 17 and a half years ago.” 

 

“And if I’ve done anything worthy of recognition in this organization, it is with deepest gratitude to my so-called right and left hands, my partners in harmony, Anthony Colosimo and Terry Reynolds.” Joe also acknowledged his pride of the AACC and expressed hope that the BHS would never lose sight of the true essence of the art form and its community – the amateur singers and the countless volunteers that make things run. 

 

All during the week YeEd and reporters (Dixie Kennett and several Harmonizer members) spotted current and former members of the  Harmonizer family at the convention (here again it is likely we missed someone – but it is still amazing how many of the Harmonizer family attended): Joe Kane, David Wilt, Jim Gammon, Glenn Williamson, Ken Ives, Keith Jones, Craig Odell, Mike Wallen, Bob Hirsh, Don Harrington, Eric Wallen, Lew Klinge, John Knight, Michael Gilmore, Ray Yeh, Richard Lewellen, Joe Wagovich, John Sifuentes, Drew Fuller, Frank Fedarko, Jim Kirkland, Tony LaRosa, Norbert Hammes from BING, and John Rettenmeyer.

 

AACC contest coordinator, Craig Kujawa, had helped make arrangements for the chapter months before and he helped members get housing, and kept them informed as to plans, times and schedules. 

 

The chapter music team gets much credit for helping the two ensembles prepare for their appearances with extra work, private sessions, learning materials, and passing along tips about performing from those who have gone before. The team certainly starts with artistic director, Joe Cerutti, and Samantha Tramack, Tony Colosimo, Maggie McAlexander, Terry Reynolds. Add to that the hard working section leaders: for Metro Voices – Elizabeth Cosh, tenors; Sophie Clarke, leads; Sheryl Berlin, baritones; Leah Musico, basses; for Harmonizers – Randy Lazear, tenors; Ben Watsky and Lance Fisher, leads; Jason Lee, baritones; David Breen, basses; Turner Arndt, stage presence leader. 

 

In addition to all the members in Cleveland, there were many family members present. Some took advantage of the things to see and do in the convention city such as the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, a stroll along Lake Erie that was just outside the headquarters hotel, and to take in a ballgame with the Cleveland Guardians vs. the Giants on Friday evening (just after the rain stopped). The AACC crowd kept track of things and each other all week via Slack to include a report on Sunday of family visits to Cedar Point for a famous roller coaster experience.

 

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.