Alexandria Harmonizers
The Alexandria Harmonizers are an international champion barbershop chorus based in Alexandria, Virginia. Numbering roughly 120 men, the chorus is the performing arm of the Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, under the direction of Joseph Cerutti, Jr. The Harmonizers have performed at the Kennedy Center Honors, Carnegie Hall, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the Supreme Court, and the White House; and will this year be performing with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Strathmore Music Center near DC.
History
The Alexandria, Virginia Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (then SPEBSQSA), was chartered by four "godfathers": Dean Snyder, Eugene Barnwell, Jean Boardman and Louis E. Metcalf, and sponsored by the Washington, DC Chapter (the Singing Capitol Chorus). On June 29, 1948, Boardman presented Ed Poole, the president of the newly-formed chapter, with the charter for the new Alexandria Chapter.
There were four godfathers to the chartering of the Alexandria Harmonizers. Godfather-in-Chief was Dean Snyder, who had just been elected President of the DC Chapter and who, several years later, was to transfer his barbershop allegiance to Alexandria. Godfather Number Two was Eugene Barnwell, then Director of the City of Alexandria's Dept. of Recreation. His chance meeting with Dean on a cold and rainy November night in 1947 on the George Washington Parkway began a chain of barbershop events that has continued for over 59 years. Godfathers Number Three and Four were Jean Boardman and Louis E. Metcalf.
Dean had a long history with barbershopping that began well before there was a Society: he sang in his first quartet, The Troubadours, at the age of nineteen; he was the third person to to sign the charter for the DC Chapter in 1945; and was the force behind establishing a new barbershop chapter in Alexandria.
Contest Placement
The Harmonizers won their first Barbershop Harmony Society International gold medal in 1986, in Salt Lake City and have earned the title three more times since then (1989 Kansas City, 1995 Miami Beach, and 1998 Atlanta). They have also earned 11 other International medals.
The Alexandria Harmonizers have a record of : ---15 International Chorus medals including four championships, ---4 International Medalist Quartets, ---1 International Seniors Quartet Champion, ---1 International Collegiate Quartet Champion, ---23 Mid-Atlantic District Chorus championships, and ---4 Mid-Atlantic District and International Medalist Seniors Quartets.
International
Ineligible for two years after each gold medal.
- 1953: 15th
| 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4th | 2nd | 2nd | |||||||
| 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 |
| 3rd | 6th | 1st | 1st | ||||||
| 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | |||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| 3rd | 3rd | 6th | 4th | 4th | 9th | 13th | 8th | 9th | 5th |
| 2011 | |||||||||
| 5th |
District
The Alexandria, VA chapter is a member of the Mid-Atlantic District.
Recordings
- Photographs and Memories (1990)
- The Harmonizers LIVE! (1997)
- Wee Small Hours (2002)
- Comfort and Joy (2005)
External Links
- Official Website
- Barbershop Music Database: contest history
- Wikipedia article