Their voices have lifted Alexandria, Virginia since 1948. This Saturday, the acclaimed men’s a-cappella chorus Alexandria Harmonizers present their fall showcase called “A Beautiful Morning” at Schlesinger Hall at Northern Virginia Community College.
“The show is a celebration of returning to live performance with our community emerging from the pandemic, so the ‘Beautiful Morning’ theme seems to fit perfectly, celebrating this re-emerging, this new day,” Executive Director Randall Eliason told WTOP. “The songs have a theme of celebration, renewal, hope, reawakening and connection.”
As such, you’ll hear “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “The Circle of Life” and of course “O, What a Beautiful Mornin'” from “Oklahoma!”
“It’s a brand new arrangement, a very unusual and beautiful arrangement of that song that we actually performed last summer at the International Convention for the Barbershop Harmony Society and won a third place medal, third place in the world,” Eliason said.
Held in Charlotte, North Carolina over July 4, it was the first convention since 2019 due to the pandemic. The Harmonizers have competed many times over the years, winning a total of 20 medals, including four gold medals. “We were thrilled to go back and do that again and took the third-place bronze out of 38 competing choruses, so we were very excited.”
Joining them on stage for the bronze prize was 17th Street Dance, the dance component of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, who tap-danced to “42nd Street.” The group will reunite with the Alexandria Harmonizers for an encore of that number at the fall showcase.
Other special guests include the barbershop quartet First Take and pianist-vocalist Drew Tepe, who you may have seen at Bobby McKey’s dueling piano bar at National Harbor.
Tickets are $20, though the group is offering free tickets to pandemic frontline workers, including first responders, police officers, firefighters, hospital staff and grocery store workers. To receive your free tickets, simply email: info@harmonizers.org.
Listen to our full conversation here.
