Kiersten Roetzer is the Director of Bands at Amherst Central High School. Prior to this position, she was the Middle-High School Band Director at Silver Creek Central School District in Silver Creek, NY where she taught concert band and jazz band grades 6-12.

Raised in Springville, NY, Ms. Roetzer started studying piano at the age of five and trombone at the age of nine. Upon graduating from Springville Griffith-Institute in 2012, Ms. Roetzer went on to study Music Education at Ithaca College graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education in 2015. Ms. Roetzer also holds a Masters of Music in Music Education from the American Band College at Central Washington University in Ashland, Oregon, graduating in 2020. At the American Band College she has had the privilege of studying conducting and education with Dr. Paula Crider, Dr. Peter Boonshaft, Dr. Timothy Lautzenheiser, and Anthony Maiello. She has also had the great pleasure to perform under the baton of Frank Ticheli, Johan DeMej, and Loras Schissel, as well as the opportunity to perform with Alan Vizzuti, Julian Bliss, Chris Castelanos, Bobby Shew and the Canadian Brass. In her spare time, Ms. Roetzer likes to garden, read, and spend time with her husband Jason, their dog Penny, and cats Juno and Nova. 

Currently, in his fifteenth year of teaching at Amherst High School, Justin T. Pomietlarz is a 1997 and 2004 piano performance/music education graduate of SUNY Fredonia. Mr. Pomietlarz began his teaching career in the Rochester City School District and subsequently at Marion High School in rural Wayne County and at Hauppauge High School in Suffolk County, Long Island.

While at Fredonia, Mr. Pomietlarz was a winner of the Concerto Competition and was also a finalist in the 2001 Ithaca College Choral Music Composition Contest. During his graduate years, Mr. Pomietlarz had the opportunity to serve Fredonia as the director of the University Chorus, as assistant director and accompanist for the Fredonia College Choir, as coach/accompanist for several musical and Hillman Opera productions. Mr. Pomietlarz has also been on the artistic faculty for the New York State Summer School of the Arts – School for Choral Studies. He was the guest conductor of the 2010 Chautauqua Junior-High All-County Chorus, and has previously served as chairperson or accompanist for All-County Choruses in Erie, Monroe, Genesee, Chautauqua, and Suffolk Counties. He has been selected as “Teacher of the Month” at Amherst High School three times, and is listed in “Who’s Who of American Teachers.” He is exceptionally proud that the Amherst Concert Chorale performed both John Rutter's and Mozart’s Requiem, and produced a full-scale production of the opera, Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Past Musical production credits include Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Grease, Guys and Dolls, Anything Goes, Les Miserables, Oklahoma, Urinetown: the Musical, Into the Woods, Leader of the Pack, The Boy Friend, Suessical: the Musical, Evita, Damn Yankees, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, among others.

Mr. Pomietlarz was selected as the 2013 PTSA Outstanding HS Educator of the Year, and recently served as the Interim Director of Women’s Choir at SUNY Fredonia from 2010 - 2012. He has performed with the Vocális Chamber Choir, and serves as Music Director and Choirmaster of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in downtown Buffalo. He resides with his wife Kristen in Parkside, Buffalo.

Derek Chazen is the Orchestra Director at Amherst Central High School. He graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia in December 2013, and began teaching Strings in the Williamsville Central School District in January 2014. Mr. Chazen taught Strings at Smallwood Drive School and Windermere Boulevard School, where he was fortunate to be a member of such an outstandingly supportive and wonderfully diverse school community. In addition to his teaching in the Amherst Central School District, Derek also maintains a private studio of viola students. His private students have been accepted into the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra, ECMEA All-County Orchestras, and NYSSMA Area All-State and Conference All-State Orchestras. As a violist, Mr. Chazen frequently performs with many ensembles at various venues throughout Western New York. Aside from his devotion to teaching and performing music, Mr. Chazen is also deeply invested in international/multicultural interests throughout the area. Having spent significant time studying, performing, and tutoring abroad, Mr. Chazen enjoys working on local projects in many capacities with students and families from other countries. Such efforts include teaching English as a New Language classes during the summer, placing exchange students with local host families, and translating for students who speak Mandarin. In Mr. Chazen's spare time, he enjoys walking, traveling, attending concerts, and trying new kinds of food and tea.