Looking Back on the May 6, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the May 6, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

Both ensembles from the Alexandria A Cappella Collective attended a dress rehearsal event on May 6 in advance of the Alexandria choral festival on May 9^th at Schlesinger Concert Hall. Members wore their Collective t-shirt with jeans for the rehearsal with the eight other groups from the greater Alexandria area including George Washington Middle School Combined Choir, NOVA Community Chorus Chamber Ensemble, The Alexandria Children’s Chorus, Choristers of Westminster Presbyterian Church, The Alexandria Singers, Alexandria City High School Titans Choir, and  The Alexandria Choral Society who organized and hosted this first-time festival.

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, directed the AACC when they did their songs, “I’m Still Standing” and “Defying Gravity” with Samantha Tramack and Lance Fisher as soloists at the dress rehearsal. There were announcements about attire for the May 9 show.  Terry Reynolds brought the supply of AACC t-shirts for those who needed one for the night. A good group of singers from the other ensembles watched and applauded after The Collective rehearsal in the lobby before their stage time. 

The evening started with a welcome from the hosts, The Alexandria Choral Society, and their artistic director, Kathryn Harsha; then assignments of where the groups would stand during the mass sing part of the Friday program. AACC singers will fill the main two aisles of the Schlesinger auditorium. 

Call time for The Collective singers is 5 pm on May 9. The massed chorus of about 400 singers will perform “Sing, Sing, Sing,” “Unified Prayer,” and “Thank You for the Music.” 

Alexandria mayor, Alyia Gaskins, will be the emcee for the performance.

There were some guests this week at the rehearsal – Ed Allen, a long-time member who lives in Iowa, and Troy Hillierwho we have need seen in a while.  Bill Colosimo was on stage helping the Alexandria Singers as one of their leaders. 

In other news about the chapter, here is a friendly reminder that registration for Harmony College East 2025 is still open! And the weekend is closer than you think!! Get your calendars out and reserve June 12-15, 2025, for the best District barbershop school ANYWHERE! Briefly, here are the particulars: WHAT: Harmony College East 2025; WHERE: The beautiful campus of McDaniel College, Westminster, MD; WHEN: Thursday, June 12 through Sunday, June 15, 2025

One of our chapter quartets, FIRST TAKE, is on the main show at the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) “Un Convention” in Nashville, TN.  That event runs May 23-26.  

New member, Jackson Byrd, has invited fellow AACC members to his school concert/show, ‘Night on Broadway.’  He will be singing a solo or two for the event and sing with his school choral group. Some members are already on deck to attend – at Edison High School, May 16, at 7 pm. Tickets are just $5. 

A good crowd of members made it to the Harmo House for afterglow, tag singing and celebrating the fun sing at Schlesinger.

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 April 29, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 29, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

This week’s meeting was another busy one, with sectionals to polish the music for the upcoming Alexandria choral festival on May 9^th with the dress rehearsal on Tues. May 6 at Schlesinger Hall.

Electronic announcements prior to this week’s meeting encouraged singers in The Collective to come warmed up and ready to sing. Both the Harmonizers and Metro Voices started the evening with sectionals.  The Harmonizers worked on the new arrangement of  “Africa.”  They had several guests who were auditioned for vocal placement. Jared Liscinskywas tapped to lead the choreography review for “But The World Goes Round” which members clearly had reviewed before the meeting.  

Metro Voices worked on a new song too and sang their director’s favorite tag. They had several guests which assistant director, Maggie McAlexander, voice placed. Both ensembles worked on songs for the trip to Ireland, too. 

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed both ensembles together for a business briefing which he began with a review of the music team’s consensus for the correct nomenclature for the chapter and its ensembles.  Jared explained that we need to get used to unified verbal terms such as “I sing with the Harmonizers or I sing with Metro Voices,” and we are part of The Collective.  We avoid referring to the group as AACC.

There was another International Prelims quartet contest this past weekend in NJ, and so Joe declared that congratulations were in order to those current and former chapter members who will compete in the July, 2025, International quartet contest in Denver: Samantha Tramack with GQ; Ed Schubel with PRATT STREET POWER; and Rick Taylor with LEGACY. Those quartets will join five other quartets with chapter reps singing in them who qualified earlier this spring – FIRST TAKE; SECRET BEST FRIENDS; BELTWAY; HARMOHAUS and SUPERNOVA. 

Also, INSTAGRAMPS, with Steve White, will represent the district and the chapter in the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International Senior Quartet Contest at the Midwinter convention in Pasadena in the winter. 

Members of The Collective (Alexandria A Cappella Collective) should take note of the upcoming major educational experience for members called Harmony College East.  Two members of The Collective, Sheryl Berlin and Bill Colosimo, organize and manage the Mid Atlantic District sponsored school. Sheryl extended an invite via Slack recently. Likely all of the quartets going to Denver will also go to this school for coaching.  Several of our members serve on the faculty.  There is a show every night, fun exchanges and tag singing, good food at the college (McDaniel College in Westminster, MD), chance to meet barbershop singers from other chapters, and all at a reasonable price. Check it out. 

Joe recognized four other Collective members – Mireille Kouagou, Zak Sandler, Joel Golden and Calvin Schnure – who are singing with students of Dominion High School in Sterling for three more performances of The Music Man: May 1 and 2 at 7 pm, and May 3 at 2 pm. 

Last week. Joe explained the plans for the One Voice choral festival in Alexandria on Friday, May 9 at 7 pm. Singers call time will be 5 pm on May 9 – plan ahead for this early Friday evening call time. The Alexandria ensembles will combine to sing “I’m Still Standing” and “Defying Gravity” with Samantha’s solo, plus three songs that all choral groups will sing together. AACC will wear their semiformal uniform.  See Becca Williams for more details if needed.

Next week, Tues. May 6, there will be a dress rehearsal at Schlesinger at 7 pm for the May 9 event.   Members are encouraged to wear The Collective black t-shirts with jeans. (The order of additional shirts arrived this week and were being sold/distributed at the meeting on April 29. Terry Reynolds plans to bring the remaining supply to the dress rehearsal so members can pick up their order or buy one (there are lots of extras). They cost $10 each. 

On May 13 the meeting will be back at AlexRenew and on May 20 the singers will gather at Market Square in Olde Town Alexandria.

Chapter secretary, Heidi Suokow, with help from Jared, presented membership renewal cards from the BHS.  Everyone acknowledged each renewal with a clap for every year: Chad Ross, 2 years; Ian Trent, 4 years; Callie Cirillo, 2 years; Tyler Carpenter, 13 years; Sophie Clark, 2 years; Rob Santine, 2 years; Dean Rust, 45 years; and Don Harrington, 45 years. 

Jacob Broude, membership coordinator, introduced the many guests present this week. Returning guests were Devin Turner, Leah Bernstein, Muamen Alsheakh, and Bridget Gilvary. First time guests were Joe Perrotti, Amaris Whitaker, Heather Hilko, and Dennis Palaganas. Assistant Metro Voices director, Maggie McAlexander, directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.” 

The meeting ended with the traditional “Keep The Whole World Singing” prior to adjourning to the Hamro House for afterglow with pizza and snacks. 

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 April 22, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 22, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Chapter Meeting

This week’s meeting was a work session for new music and to bring the many new members up to date on songs to be sung for upcoming shows and paid gigs.

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, conducted a warm up session for the voice and the face for the combined chorus.

Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed everyone and expressed his appreciation for those who did the sing out in Olde Town, and offered his congratulations to the development team for the success of spring2ACTion. 

Joe explained some of the plans for the One Voice choral festival in Alexandria on Friday, May 9 at 7 pm. During announcements, Megan from the Alexandria Choral Society who is hosting the event, came to our chapter meeting to pass out flyers and welcome our chapter as one of the eight ensembles who will compose the 480 singers.  It is the first-ever city wide choral festival for Alexandria. AACC call time will be 5 pm on May 9 – plan ahead for this early Friday evening call time. AACC will sing “I’m Still Standing” and “Defying Gravity” with Samantha’s solo, plus three songs that all choral groups will sing together. AACC will wear their semiformal uniform.  See Becca Williams for more details if needed.

Next week, AACC will meet again at AlexRenew; then on Tues. May 6, there will be a dress rehearsal at Schlesinger at 7 pm. At this point, the AACC chorus worked on the songs for the May 9 event.

Chapter executive director, Stan Quick, coordinated a brief business meeting this week. Tyler Carpenter distributed ballcaps recently ordered by members with one of the chapter logos – AACC, Harmonizers or Metro Voices. He also filled in as membership coordinator this week and introduced guests.  First time singer was Devin Turner. Returning guests were Leah Bernstein, Shira Perlmutter and Donald Medor.  Jackson Byrd and Heidi Brown were given their names tags as our newest members. Assistant Harmonizer director, Jason Lee, directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.” 

At this point in the evening, Metro Voices and the Harmonizers worked separately on their music.  Samantha Tramack and Maggie McAlexander shared tips on how to learn new music with Metro Voices members.  Their ensemble also held a good discussion about learning and preparing for appearances as an individual and as an ensemble. Joe pushed hard to tighten up the vowel production on some songs the Harmonizers are singing. 

Four AACC members are providing the barbershop quartet for a “Music Man” performance at Dominion High School this weekend – Mireille Kouagou, Zak Sandler, Joel Golden and Calvin Schnure. 

Joe extended congratulations from the chapter to Tuner Arndt who was engaged recently to Jessica Hale.

Joe also recognized the passing of Jim Clancy, longtime director of the Dallas Vocal Majority. Jim was 88 and was their director when they earned their 12 gold chorus medals. He was a friend of the Harmonizers and was guest speaker for our Togetherness Dinner at an International Convention in the 1980s. He worked as a jingle writer and also was a prolific arranger – the Harmonizers still sing a few of his arrangements such as the beautiful “Silent Night” we use during the holidays. Their chorus was in DC to visit with us and do a show at Constitution Hall is 1987. Joe encouraged our newer members to check out some of the VM recordings that are standards for the hobby. 

The deadline to join the chapter’s International trip to Ireland is May 31.  See Brad Jones ASAP if interested. 

Alan Wile coordinates the weekly 50/50 drawing – a ticket holder gets half and the other half is donated to the Mid Atlantic Endowment Fund in the name of the Alexandria Chapter.  Jason Lee directed “Keep The Whole World Singing” to wrap up the meeting prior to adjourning to the Hamro House for 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 April 15, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Sing in Olde Town

 Looking Back on the April 15, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Sing in Olde Town

The AACC singers had fun Tuesday, April 15, singing in Olde Town Alexandria.  About 45 made it out on tax day, but had to dress warm for the windy cold night.  They gathered at 7 pm at Market Square by City Hall for vocal warm up with associate director, Tony Colosimo. 

Chapter executive director, Stan Quick, provided AACC business cards for members to hand to interested folks during the stops along King Street. Basically, the combined ensembles sang “Hey Jude” with Matt Ambler as soloist, and “I’m Still Standing.”  At the stop for the entrance to the Torpedo Factory area, the Metro Voices ensemble sang one song directed by Maggie McAlexander, and HARMOHAUS quartet (Sifuentes, Fisher, Mendez and Breen) sang. 

There were several singing guests who went along for this week’s sing plus a group of Ashley Merryman’s friends who went along to cheer and applaud. 

After the singing for crowds who were out to enjoy the Alexandria waterfront and King Street area, AACC members adjourned for an afterglow at Chadwick’s.

In other news, Tyler Carpenter distributed ballcaps recently ordered by members with one of the chapter logos – AACC, Harmonizers or Metro Voices.

YeEd learned that four members are providing the barbershop quartet for a “Music Man” performance at Dominion High School at the end of April – Mireille Kouagou, Zak Sandler, Joel Golden and Calvin Schnure. 

Tuner Arndt encouraged singers to work on the performance plan for “But the World Goes Round” by the April 29 meeting.  

The deadline to join the chapter’s International trip to Ireland is May 31.  See Brad Jones ASAP if interested. 

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 April 9, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Successful spring2ACTion

 Looking Back on the April 9, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Successful spring2ACTion

CONGRATULATIONS to the members of the AACC for their success at raising over $30,000 (and exceeding the chapter goal) during the Spring2ACTion fundraising event. 

Spring2ACTion is the city of Alexandria’s annual day of giving that raises several million dollars for local nonprofits. This was the 15th year of S2A, and over the past decade it has become the AACC’s most significant fundraising event of the year. All day on April 9 (and in the days leading up to it) the members were promoting the campaign to their friends and families and co-workers through email, text messaging, and social media. The AACC’s success during the day also earned us additional prize money for having the most donors and dollars raised during a designated “Power Hour” from 3-4 pm and for having the third highest number of donors for organizations of our size.

There was a large pool of money used to match donations during the day – those matching dollars came from chapter members and friends and totaled $9,750.  Those generous gifts gave our campaign a big boost.

Kudos to chapter development director, Ken Rub, for steering the event and to general manager Susan Fitzpatrick for handling the promotion and social media posts and other logistics. It was fun to watch the tally all day and to see donations from members who live far from Alexandria now, and chapter friends who still support our programs to bring music to the Metro Area. It was also great to see so many members join in the event and especially the many Harmonizer and Metro Voices members who participated for the first time.

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 April 8, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 8, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

There were a lot of singers present this week and artistic director, Joe Cerutti, was excited to have so many members and guests on hand to make music.  He said, “We can always make great music when everyone is together.”  It is great to see so many new singers come join us – both former barbershop singers and those who were eager to sing or perform and found AACC on YouTube.

Associate director of the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, did an extensive warm up session for the entire AACC chorus. Then Joe welcomed some folks and reported on some things.  First, he is better but still had a lingering cough. He eagerly welcomed Clyde Crusenberry back with us.

Joe welcomed his pal and former quartet tenor with Joe prior to the Harmonizer years, from New Hampshire, Matt Mercier. And Joe recognized Jackson Bird who has just finished his appearance in his school performance of “Grease.”

Finally, Joe reported that Bruce Roehm won the men’s basketball contest, and Callie Cirillo won the women’s contest.  Joe also claimed that he had out-scored Tony for the third year in a row (but it was revealed Tony didn’t even enter this year!!  Sooooo?) 

Members should mark their calendars for the May 9 appearance at the Alexandria Choral Society’s anniversary concert.  They invited several groups to sing and that included both Metro Voices and the Harmonizers. The AACC combined ensemble will sing “I’m Still Standing,” “Defying Gravity” and “Hey Jude.” There will be aa finale song that all singers will perform together and AACC members will be on their own to prepare for that. 

Next week, AACC will gather at City Hall at 7 pm in Old Town and then walk around to sing for crowds there.  A mini sort of show will be done on the covered stairs at the Torpedo Factory. The  group will sing the same songs that will be used on the May 9 gig, as a rehearsal. 

The April 22 and 29 meetings will be at AlexRenew.

At this point, Joe was eager to get the members singing.  First up was “Hey Jude” with Matt Ambler doing the solo. 

Then the two ensembles worked on their music.  

The Harmonizers adjourned for sectionals to work on the new Irish song, “The Parting Glass.”  New members met separately for one of their orientations – this one on the history of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) and the Alexandria A Cappella Collective.  Terry Reynolds facilitated this session.

Annie Ermlick reports that Metro Voices section leaders worked on “Somewhere” from “West Side Story.” That was followed by the whole ensemble singing it with time to make recordings to submit. And then they worked on their contest song. 

The two ensembles came back together for some business items: (1) any chapter quartets interested in filling requests that the chapter gets for singing gigs should contact Frank Fedarko to confirm their interest and be sure he has their contact information. (2) Calvin Schnure and Callie gave a pep talk on Harmony Brigades – another opportunity to sing barbershop in the Mid Atlantic area. One opportunity is coming up Aug. 8-10 in Wilmington, DE.  There are scholarship for these events too – speak to Calvin about them!

President Craig Kujawa shared a success story of how Randall Eliason used scrip to earn a major addition to the chapter’s funds.  Randall made it sound pretty easy.  Secondly, Craig shared a message from past president, Ken Fess, who made a charitable donation to the chapter as a result of his managing his Required Minimum Distribution matters as part of Federal Income Tax programs. Thirdly, Craig reminded members that although we do not pay chapter dues, the decision to eliminate those dues was made so that more members could afford to join us; but that those who could,  would donate their dues (or more) – about $100.  Fourthly, Craig confirmed the chapter will try to bring in the most donors for spring2ACTion between 3-4 pm on Wed. April 9 – in hopes of getting the prize for the most different donations by any nonprofit. He also thanked those current and former members who donated funds for an almost $10,000 matching fund. 

Becca Williams presented a paper on new uniform plans for the AACC.  It included details of options and colors to add as accents. Watch for your own copy of the paper that was projected on the screen. 

As a reminder, the Honors Flights will be on May 31 in the morning.  Watch for more details.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, welcomed returning guests Heidi Brown, Susan Friel, Max Demers, Jackson Byrd, and Stephanie Byrd. First time visitors were Donald Medor and Matt Mercier.  Maggie McAlexander directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.”

  

After the business meeting, the two ensembles met to work on their own materials. 

 

The chapter will also have some current or former members singing in quartets at the Northern Division/International prelims contest, April 25-26 in New Jersey, including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

The evening ended after the drawing for the 50/50 about 10 pm, followed by “Keep the Whole World Singing” directed by lead section leader, Matt Ambler.

Great to see so many new members for both ensembles at the division contest: basically all of Metro Voices were in their first contest.  For the Harmonizers, there were nine first timers – Rob Stark, Ian Trent, Suranjan Sen, Josh Berenhaus, Jimmy Miotto, Brandon White, Brigham Blackhurst, Rob Santine, and Tanner Perdue. 

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 April 1, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the April 1, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

AACC members were on hand in big numbers this week in order to work on some new music and especially for all the new members who want to learn other repertoire songs.

The music team was hampered a little but they managed in fine style with Tony Colosimo on travel and Joe Cerutti, artistic director, sick at home.  Assistant director of the Harmonizers,  Jason Lee, did the warm up session for the combined AACC chorus. Maggie McAlexander, assistant director of Metro Voices, assisted. Terry Reynolds, music team admin and assistant director of the Harmonizers, kept things rolling just great. 

After the warm up period, Samantha Tramack, director of Metro Voices, directed the combined ensembles for a solid rehearsal for “Defying Gravity” with Maggie offering coaching advice to the singers. Following that, Jason worked with the group on “Hey Jude.” These two songs plus “I’m Still Standing” will be the AACC chorus songs for a May 9 choral appearance in Alexandria.

(Thanks to operations director, Gary Cregan, for his work to get platforms for directors of both ensembles to stand on when the singers are not on risers.)

There was a brief recap of the recent appearance of a group from Metro Voices who sang at a Virginia anniversary of the Association of American University Women.  Samantha was director for the appearance at the Sheraton in Old Town Alexandria.  The group sang four songs for the AAUW social event.

The AACC will meet at AlexRenew on April 8, 22 and 29.  On April 15, there will be a walking sing out in Old Town Alexandria. Stay tuned for more details.

Chapter president, Craig Kujawa, reports that our current amount earned by members buying and using gift cards in our fundraising program is at $1900 – only about 38% of the chapter’s goal by the end of the fiscal year.  He can explain to new users or put them in touch with other chapter members who are frequent supporters of this activity.

He also reported that at their recent meeting, the chapter board approved new bylaws as required by the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) for every chapter that is a registered corporation. One aspect of our bylaws approved the option to allow membership of any singer (not just men, as was previously the case for the Harmonizers), and the option to have three community representatives on the board (we received a waiver from BHS to have more than two).  Craig brought this to everyone’s attention so that more members know the behind-the-scenes operation of a large, successful chapter like AACC.

Membership director, Jacob Broude, presented name tags to two new members: Michael Snow and Leah Bernstein. Returning guests were Heidi Brown, David Niemi, and Susan Friel. First time guests were Laura Rutledge and Max Demers. Harmonizer Dan O’Brien was visiting the chapter from his home in California. Terry directed the chapter’s “Welcome Song.”  

There was a clarifying announcement that the Honors Flights will be on May 31 in the morning.  Watch for more details.

After the business meeting, the two ensembles met to work on their own materials.  Reporter, Annie Ermlick, submitted this report from Metro Voices:  in addition to work on the new Irish tune, Metro Voices had a party in the board room area to celebrate their contest experience. Cake and sparkling cider were gifts from Maggie and Samantha. The discussion centered around the scores earned.  Maggie, a candidate judge for BHS, explained many details and comments the judges in Towson made to the chorus.  The Metro Voices also celebrated the support from the Harmonizers at the convention. 

A major discussion point centered around the report that the arranger of “After You, Who?” (Carole Prietto) was in Towson and some folks spoke with her and have heard from her. Carol was thrilled with the performance and honored to have her arrangement treated with such respect and quality on the stage.  She was also surprised since no one had alerted her that our ensemble would be singing that arrangement. 

The Harmonizers took time to view their Southern Division contest appearance video.  Jason and Terry moderated comments from members about the appearance and hints at next steps – especially considering the plan to add another layer of performance to the package (“Toyland” and “Come Follow the Band”) for the fall district contest. 

After that, Jason helped the Harmonizers work on “Wonderful World.” 

Then the Harmonizers worked in sectionals for the new Irish song – “The Parting Glass” which will be sung with Metro Voices.  Current section leaders are Randy Lazear and Lance Fisher, tenors; Matt Ambler, leads; Jared Liscinsky, baritones; and Calvin Schnure, basses. The sections came back together for the Harmonizer chorus work on the song. 

The chapter will also have some current or former members singing in quartets at the Northern Division/International prelims contest, April 25-26 in New Jersey, including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

The evening ended after the drawing for the 50/50 about 10 pm, followed by “Keep the Whole World Singing.” 

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 March 18, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

 Looking Back on the March 18, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting

The AACC ensembles continued working on their music this week, at Beth El.  They are both preparing for the Southern Division competition this weekend, March 21-22, in Towson, MD, at the University of MD Kaplan Concert Hall (8000 York Rd.). The quartet contest starts early – 4 pm on Friday afternoon.  The chorus contest starts at 9:30 am Saturday morning and the quartet finals round starts at 7 pm. 

Metro Voices sings 9^th and the Harmonizers sing 12^th in the chorus contest. 

Here is the singing order for all the quartets with AACC members or former members or family members in them:

 

Singing first – SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT with Jim Lake

Singing second – MENTAL NOTE with Scott Beach and Mike Geipel

Singing third – BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth Colosimo, Heather Havens, Tony Colosimo, and Andrew Havens

Singing fifth – BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Suranjan Sen, Josh Myers, and Ryan Mextorf

Singing sixth – THE ELDERLY BROTHERS with Mike Wallen

Singing eighth – INSTAGRAMPS with Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White

Singing tenth – HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher. Kevin Mendez, and David Breen

Singing thirteenth – FANTASTIC 4 with Chris Susalka and  Heidi Brown, daughter of Anne Ermlick

Singing fifteenth – FIRST TAKE with Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens

Singing nineteenth – HEART AND SOUL  with Bob Mattes

Singing twenty third – SUPERNOVA with Tessa Walker and Maggie McAlexander

There is a good body of information about going to the Southern Division contest – a slide set is in the Water Coolerchannel - on Slack.  It is especially informative for new members, but even experienced members would benefit from this info.

The two ensembles met separately at the start of this week’s meeting. 

For the Harmonizers, Tony Colosimo, associate director,  started the warm up, and asked newly appointed assistant director, Jason Lee, to finish the exercises. Tony conducted the rehearsal time as he will be directing the Harmonizer chorus at the Southern Division while artistic director, Joe Cerutti, is on International travel this week.

Tony worked on “Wonderful World” and then on the contest songs – “Toyland” (arranged by Ed Waesche) and “Come Follow the Band” (arranged by Steve Tramack). Zak Sandler helped coach the singers in their performance skills for the songs. 

Terry Reynolds, music team admin leader, and Tony facilitated the official riser placements for the Harmonizers before they performed their contest set for Metro Voices.  That performance earned a lot of cheering and applause!

Terry reminded members that the call time is 9:30 am at the concert hall – dressed and warmed up ready to sing.  It was also stressed that singers should plan to arrive early enough to pick up their convention registration because they must have it before going on stage. The Harmonizers will go into the contest seating area to cheer for Metro Voices, then adjourn themselves to finish their warm up preparation. He also announced that the chapter has been invited to sing on the Saturday night show, and that both ensembles will sing as part of their stage time. That might mean a change in travel plans for those driving up and back on Saturday.

Both Terry and Tony encouraged members to sit in on as much of the contest as they can, and shared that everyone is welcome to stay for the judges chat with the choruses about their judging category.  The sessions usually happen right after the contest results are announced.

For Metro Voices, they started Tuesday night using the risers to prepare for their stage time at the contest.  Riser positions were created last week when assistant director, Maggie McAlexander, lead a session on identifying timber of the singers’ voices (based on the work the chorus had done with their coach a couple weeks ago). She met with each section of the chorus and had individuals sing, and she then assigned that person an “instrument” label for their sound – strings, woodwinds and brass. Tony assisted in the riser placement plan.

Maggie did warm ups this week and welcomed Cadence Flaherty back from college to sing at the contest with Metro Voices. Director, Samantha Tramack, worked on some fine tuning points for their contest uptune, “World Here I Am” (arranged by Patrick McAlexander).  Their ballad will be “After You, Who” (arranged by Carole Prietto). For part of the evening, the chorus also worked on their other repertoire songs.

For sure it was great for Metro Voices to perform the set for their fellow AACC members and celebrate the growth and terrific development of Metro Voices. 

Here are other recent announcements that members should know:

(1) The Harmonizers will sing the Honors Flight event on April 26. Members should sign up to confirm their availability.

(2) The Alfred Street Baptist Choir  folks have invited the Harmonizers to sing at the tribute event for Dr. Joyce Garrett, Aug. 2 at 5 pm in Fort Washington, MD.  She was instrumental in the outreach to have the Harmonizers and the men’s choir at Alfred Street Baptist launch their many years of fellowship and musical celebrations. She was honored by the chapter as recipient of the Harmony Award in 2018.

(3) The March 25 meeting will be at AlexRenew – it will be an education night with a variety of sessions to learn more about barbershop harmony and the chapter. 

(4) We will also have some quartets singing in the Northern Division/International prelims contest  April 25-26 in New Jersey including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

(5) The cabaret planned for the evening of the spring2ACTion fundraiser has been cancelled because no venue could be found for the event. 

President Craig Kujawa took a minute to explain the chapter’s 50/50 drawing – one half goes to the member with the winning ticket, and the other half goes to the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) Endowment Fund, per a letter of appreciation from Endowment Fund promoter, Alan Wile. He reports that the chapter’s support of the fund for the year is over $1100.

Craig announced that the next chapter board meeting will be Thursday, March 20, at 7 pm, at AlexRenew.  Any member is welcome to attend.

Again this week, Mary Cooper welcomed the guests to the meeting: Patrick Horne, Shira Perlmutter, Leah Bernstein, Holly Perdue, Karen Kouagou, and Nathanial White. She also presented name tags to the two newest members – AJ Gupta and Brigham Blackhurst. Welcome all!

Two of the chapter quartets sang their contest set this week – great job BELTWAY and HARMOHAUS

The evening ended at 10 pm with Jason as director for an especially enthusiastic “Keep the Whole World Singing.” There was no afterglow 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.

 

 

Looking Back on the March 11, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting; Report from DCPS Youth Event

 Looking Back on the March 11, 2025 Alexandria A Cappella Collective Meeting; Report from DCPS Youth Event

The active AACC ensembles are busy working on their music for the contest cycle starting with the Southern Division competition in mid-March. This week each ensemble did a warm up session of their own.

Artistic director. Joe Cerutti, had the following announcements for all AACC members: (1) The interview process is wrapping up and “take aways” will be coming soon to the chapter.  

(2) The Harmonizers will sing the Honors Flight event on April 26. Members should sign up to confirm their availability.

(3) The Alfred Street Baptist Choir  folks have invited the Harmonizers to sing at the tribute event for Dr. Joyce Garrett, Aug. 2 at 5 pm in Fort Washington, MD.  She was instrumental in the outreach to have the Harmonizers and the men’s choir at Alfred Street Baptist launch their many years of fellowship and musical celebrations. She was honored by the chapter as recipient of the Harmony Award in 2018.

 (4) The March 18 chapter meeting will be at Beth El, and the March 25 meeting will be at AlexRenew – it will be an education night with a variety of sessions to learn more about barbershop harmony and the chapter. 

(5) There is a good body of information about going to the Southern Division contest – a slide set is in the Water Coolerchannel on Slack.  It is especially informative for new members, but even experienced members would benefit from this info. The call time for both ensembles will be 9 am – singers should arrive vocally ready to sing and dressed for the stage.  The Harmonizers will go cheer for Metro Voices when they go on stage, then Harmonizers will return to the meeting room to prepare for their stage time. All singers are welcome to attend the Feed Back sessions after the scores are announced (also it is a good opportunity for new members to get a feel for how the judging system works). 

(6) Joe also saluted the many quartets that will represent our chapter at the contest in Towson. It’s been a while since the chapter has had so many quartets with current or former members or family members from the chapter. Here is the lineup for quartets singing at the Southern Division/International Prelims contests in Towson, MD, at the University’s Kaplan Concert Hall (8000 York Rd.), March 21-22. 

Singing Order:

Fri night mic tester – SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT with Jim Lake

Singing second – MENTAL NOTE with Scott Beach and Mike Geipel

Singing third – BETTER TOGETHER with Elizabeth Colosimo, Heather Havens, Tony Colosimo, and Andrew Havens

Singing fifth – BELTWAY with Rob Santine, Suranjan Sen, Josh Myers, and Ryan Mextorf

Singing sixth – THE ELDERLY BROTHERS with Mike Wallen

Singing eighth – INSTAGRAMPS with Rick Taylor, Jay Butterfield and Steve White

Singing tenth – HARMOHAUS with John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher. Kevin Mendez, and David Breen

Singing thirteenth – FANTASTIC 4 with Chris Susalka and  Heidi Brown, daughter of Anne Ermlick

Singing fifteenth – FIRST TAKE with Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens

Singing nineteenth – HEART AND SOUL  with Bob Mattes

Singing twenty third – SUPERNOVA with Tessa Walker and Maggie McAlexander

 

We will also have some quartets singing in the Northern Division/International prelims contest  April 25-26 in New Jersey including LEGACY with Rick Taylor; GQ with Samantha Tramack; and PRATT STREET POWER with Ed Schubel. 

The two ensembles then met to work on their contest packages – the Harmonizers used the risers with Tony Colosimoas director and Joe Cerutti as coach; and Metro Voices used the sanctuary space with Samantha Tramack as director and Maggie McAlexander as coach.

 

Before the two ensembles changed locations with Metro Voices on the risers, chapter executive director,

 Stan Quick, conducted the chapter meeting. Announcements included word that Dave Ermlick is under doctor care currently.  

The cabaret planned for the evening of the spring2ACTion fundraiser has been cancelled because no venue could be found for the event. 

Chapter secretary, Heidi Suckow, with help from Jared Liscinsky, presented membership renewal cards to Mary Cooper, 3 years; Maggie McAlexander, 11 years; Noah Van Gilder, 17 years; and Don Thompson, 32 years. 

Mary Cooper welcomed the guests this week. First time guest was Tamara. Retuning guests included Patrick Horne, Shira Perlmutter, AJ Gupta, Leah Bernstein, Michael Snow, and Julian LeFlore. Maggie directed the chapter “Welcome Song.” Editor’s note: a sharp new chapter membership recruitment brochure was available on the admin table at the entrance this week. 

Sheryl Berlin thanked all those AACC members who helped with the DCPS youth festival. She had leftover water bottles for anyone who wanted one. (See full report below.)

Becca Williams explained the expected chorus apparel for the upcoming  contest: Metro Voices  - gray with blue, purple or gray accents; Harmonizers – black with gray and white (no accent colors).

The evening ended with “Keep the Whole World Singing” as the closing number. There was an afterglow at Harmo House.

In other news from the chapter, good to see Tessa Walker’s name on Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) list of presenters for webinars for music educators.  She is doing one on March 13 at 7 pm CST for 60 minutes via Zoom.  The topic is “Improving Sight Reading Skills Through Barbershop Harmony.

Friday, March 7, AACC chapter members worked together with the Music Education staff from DC Public Schools (DCPS) for a terrific all-day youth choral festival.  The event was at UDC in The Center for Theater Arts and attended by over 80 students with their music educators from seven DC schools.

 

Members of AACC helped support the event with riser crews (helpers with Gary Cregan); and snacks, pizza lunch and water (donations from members of cash and products coordinated by Mark Oswald and Randy Lazear). 

 

At 4 pm, the youth chorus sang their songs learned during the day for an audience of AACC members, parents and music educators.  The show started with two schools (Dunbar High School and Jackson Lee High School) demonstrating a tag they had learned since last year’s festival.

 

Tessa Walker was clinician for the day and directed the youth chorus and shared her pride and excitement about how well the students had learned their music in advance of the day and had worked hard all day to be ready for the show. THE QUINN TONES quartet (Jake, Julian, Tommy and Chris) was on hand to help Tessa as section leaders and coaches.  The quartet sang on the show as well. 

 

Joe Cerutti, emcee for the show, was enthusiastic in his thank you to parents and friends who came to support the student singers. Many members of AACC were on hand for the show too.  Some of them had spent parts of the day at the festival as helpers ‘as needed’ with music education, hospitality and set up, take down and clean up. AACC members who helped or attended the concert included Dean Rust, Randy Lazear, Mark Oswald, David Breen, Noah Van Gilder, Maggie Alexander, Carl Kauffmann, Gary Cregan, Sheryl Berlin, Patricia Chow, Ken Rub, Jack Pitzer, Bruce Roehm, Elizabeth Cosh, Michael Berkson, Kevin Mendez, Tony Colosimo, Cy Shuster, and Becca Williams. Students were given a souvenir water bottle to celebrate their efforts for the day. 

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.