Former Amherst students reunite after 35 years for 'Mr. Wahl's Opus'
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Former Baroque Orchestra members recently reunited after 35 years at Amherst Middle School to perform together, pictured right. Seated, Gayle (Shaw) Hutton, Conductor Clayton Wahl, June Price-Tangney, Molly Diesing; second row, Jennifer Coleman, Amy (Bartholomew) Isphording, Patty (Warnick) Yarnell, Larry Ramunno, Janice (Pegels) Jewell, Amy (Harrington) Letson and Margot Ehrlich; third row, Lisa (Gamziukas) Wishman, David Cohen, Carmen Valls, Sara (Doan) Borshoff and Cathy (Burke) Brennan; back row, Al Frenning, Forrest Harper, Greg Barrett, Bernie Hamsher, Dan Goldstein, Doug Shaw, Mike DeLuca and Robby Hausmann. Pictured above, students of the orchestra pose for a school photo. The orchestra was part of Amherst Junior and High Schools from in 1972-1977.

To many of Clayton Wahl's former students, he was more than a teacher and a conductor, he set the foundation of their professional future.

In 1972 he started the Baroque Orchestra at the former Amherst Junior High School. For five years he conducted the orchestra of gifted musicians, first for seventh through ninth-graders, then moving with a group to the high school in '76. An estimated 40 students were part of the orchestra during the five years.

Of those students, 24 returned from around the country for a reunion on May 27. Lisa (Gamziukas) Wishman said of that group more than 50 percent now play professionally.

Wahl, 85, came from Tampa, Fla., where he is still conducting and participating in orchestras and has been since retiring from Amherst in 1977.

He and his former students didn't reunite just to sit and reminisce, they did what they do best - perform music. For almost three hours at Amherst Middle School, the group played many of the pieces they learned as students.

"It was truly a wonderful experience. Some of us don't play all the time anymore, but we all gelled," Wishman said.

The Baroque Orchestra was formed to develop a group of talented musicians and perform music from that time period.

When Wahl retired in '77, so did the Baroque Orchestra.

Wishman said that 14 years ago the group held a reunion. This year's 35th anniversary also marked the 30th anniversary of the Baroque Orchestra's trip to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Cathedral, both in Washington, D.C. In 1977, the group of 20 students was acclaimed and was awarded a $2,500 grant from the Amherst School Board for the trip.

Wishman said Paul Wietig, current deputy superintendent, was instrumental in obtaining the grant back then, and during this past reunion he once again assisted the group with securing a room.

Many of the members returning to the reunion had been members of the orchestra for only one year before moving on to high school, but they still returned to perform with their former classmates.

One of the former members, Robbie Hausmann, is a 25-year veteran cellist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Al Frenning and Gayle Hutton also perform with the BPO.

"Clayton Wahl had a unique level of musicianship ... He pulled artistry out of seventh-, eighthand ninth-graders," Hausmann said.

Jon Sherwin, a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, was unable to attend the performance because of a show, but immediately following he left Cleveland and drove to Buffalo to have dinner with the group.

Members also came from Washington, D.C., Virginia, New Hampshire, Montana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Florida.