ACE History

The Amherst Chamber Ensembles, Inc., or ACE, is an outgrowth of community outreach performances that Dorothy (Dolly) Gaus, violinist, and Ernest Rahklin, pianist and composer, gave at various venues, including the Jewish Community Center, senior residences, and nursing homes.

In 1992, Dolly went to a concert of the UB Symphony Orchestra at the University of Buffalo, where she met Martha Welte, a violinist who was playing in the concert. Martha soon joined Dolly and Ernest in their performances. They decided it would be fun to have a small orchestra, so they invited some of their string-playing friends to play music, with Ernest as their conductor.

Starting in the spring of 1994, rehearsals and performances were held at Calvary Lutheran Church on Bailey Avenue in Amherst, where ACE flutist Roberta Rogers was music director. After Ernest left the area in 1994, our next music director was Jon Noworyta, newly graduated from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory and newly hired to teach at North Tonawanda High School, from which he had graduated.

ACE was incorporated in 1995. In March of 1998, ACE moved to Christ United Methodist Church in Snyder, where they played concerts until June 2009. That fall, ACE relocated to North Presbyterian Church in Williamsville.

In 1999, Jon Noworyta moved to Illinois to become band director of Wheaton North High School. Dolly Gaus moved to Williamsburg, VA in 2000. In 1999, ACE chose another music educator, Dennis Lell, instrumental teacher in the Hamburg, NY school system, and conductor of the Greater Buffalo Youth String Orchestra for many years, as its principal conductor.

When Dennis retired in 2010, ACE ran another conductor search. In 2011, Dr. Thomas Witakowski, faculty member at the The State University of New York College at Buffalo, was selected as ACE Principal Conductor and Music Director.

Mrs. Welte continues as Vice President of the ACE board. The Ace String Quartet still carries on the tradition of playing concerts in community centers. ACE now has a personnel roster of several hundred contributing musicians of all ages and playing levels who continue the original mission of friends making music together.

ACE includes the plural word “Ensembles” in its name, because its ten-concert season includes solo performances, chamber music workshops and recitals, and wind ensemble, string orchestra, and other chamber orchestra programs.

If you're interested in playing with ACE, please see our Contacts page for more information.