Amherst Chamber Ensembles

Amherst Chamber Ensembles Sharing chamber music of all styles in Western New York since 1995

Thank you to everyone who was part of the concert this past Sunday at St. Stanislaus RC church. Special thanks to our mu...
08/25/2026

Thank you to everyone who was part of the concert this past Sunday at St. Stanislaus RC church. Special thanks to our music director Dr. Tom Witakowski for planning the All-Polish Composers Concert at a beautiful historic venue.

Check us out in action as we rehearse for the upcoming All-Polish Composers Concert on Sunday August 23. We look forward...
08/14/2026

Check us out in action as we rehearse for the upcoming All-Polish Composers Concert on Sunday August 23. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Our 2026-27 season is now posted. Very excited for the music!🥳
08/05/2026

Our 2026-27 season is now posted. Very excited for the music!🥳

This week we are featuring Yvonne Verplanke from our cello section. Yvonne has played with Amherst Chamber Ensembles for...
07/17/2026

This week we are featuring Yvonne Verplanke from our cello section. Yvonne has played with Amherst Chamber Ensembles for 14 years since 2012 and is also on the Board as the Publicity Chair.

1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up on Longview Island, New York and came up to Western New York for college. Growing up on Long Island allowed us to go into NYC to Carnegie Hall to hear Leonard Rose and to Lincoln Center. I went to SUC Fredonia for Music Education.

2. How did you choose your instrument? Who helped you?
I started cello in 3rd grade in school and private lessons in 4th grade with Aaron Shapinsky (he was a cellist at the NYC ballet). My Dad was the person who suggested the cello for me.
I played in several community orchestras when I was in high school.

3. Who is your favorite composer?
My favorite composers are Mendelssohn , Dvorak and Mendelssohn. Dvorak’s cello concerto is my favorite and I like Mendelssohn and Smetana’s music

4. What do you do (or did) for a living?
I taught Strings in the public schools for 36 years.

5. What do you enjoy about playing in ACE?
I enjoy all the different chamber orchestra literature. Dr. Witakowski chooses music I have never played . Each rehearsal I learn more about music and how to improve my playing.

07/10/2026

Animals love a good violin concerto as well!

Dan RiceMiller is the musician we are featuring this week. Dan is our current ACE board member and plays the trumpet wit...
07/06/2026

Dan RiceMiller is the musician we are featuring this week. Dan is our current ACE board member and plays the trumpet with ACE.

1. Where did you grow up?
Plainfield Vermont, a small town outside of Montpelier

2. How did you choose your instrument? Who helped you?
I do not remember how I chose the trumpet initially, but I took a long hiatus (25+years) from it after my 1st year of music school. What drew me back was the feeling that I had more to say through the instrument. I am in the process of relearning, refining skills and exploring my voice through the trumpet.

3. Who is your favorite composer?
I always thought it was Dvorák because I loved playing his music in orchestra during my youth. Now, I have grown fond of Vaughan Williams after playing his Norfolk Rhapsody recently. There is something special in the way he captures the feel of the natural world and translates it musically.

4. What do you do (or did) for a living?
I work as a speech-language therapist in the Buffalo Public Schools.

5. What do you enjoy about playing in ACE?
-The unity I feel when creating with such an amazing group of musicians. It is like a flock of birds moving as one.
-The inspiration, as well as technical/experiential knowledge, that I gain from sitting next to our principal trumpeter Fred.
-Tom as our conductor. He always surprises me with his depth of musical awareness, background knowledge and ability to extract the best from the orchestra.

Have you ever wanted to know more about our ACE musicians? Starting this week, we will be featuring a musician with a se...
06/22/2026

Have you ever wanted to know more about our ACE musicians? Starting this week, we will be featuring a musician with a series of interview questions. Leslie Bahler is our section violist.

1. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Annapolis MD and grew up outside of Philadelphia PA.

2. How did you choose your instrument? Who helped you?
My mother, a community cellist, put me on the viola in fourth grade. She thought viola would be a good social way to make friends.

3. Who is your favorite composer?
Always Brahms

4. What do you do (or did) for a living?
I have been a professional musician my entire adult life.
I was a member of the Richmond Symphony, Wheeling WV Symphony. Florida Philharmonic, Palm Beach Symphony, Ars Nova and played as an extra with the Buffalo Philharmonic for several years.

5. What do you enjoy about playing in ACE?
I enjoy my friends in ACE, the music we get to play, our conductor and that where we play is only five miles from home.

The Polish Arts Club of Buffalo and the Aleksander and Walentyna Janta-Polczynski Endowment cordially invite you to a sp...
06/15/2026

The Polish Arts Club of Buffalo and the Aleksander and Walentyna Janta-Polczynski Endowment cordially invite you to a special All Polish Composers Concert on Sunday August 23 at 2.30pm, performed by Amherst Chamber Ensembles.

We are very honored and excited to be playing at this concert. Music program forthcoming!

We would like to thank our wonderful audience for supporting Amherst Chamber Ensembles. The 2025-26 season is now over. ...
06/15/2026

We would like to thank our wonderful audience for supporting Amherst Chamber Ensembles. The 2025-26 season is now over. Here are some highlights of the year. We hope you have enjoyed listening to us as much as we have enjoyed making music for you. Our 2026-27 season promises to be programmed with surprises. Stay tuned.

Address

711 Niagara Falls Boulevard
Amherst, NY
14223

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Amherst Chamber Ensembles posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to Amherst Chamber Ensembles:

Shortcuts

Share

Category