The Beginning (1948)
On a cool crisp evening in late September, 1948, eight men gathered in the music room at Amherst Central High School in Snyder, N.Y.
Walter Reitz, choral director at the school, and Edward Metz, president of the Amherst Board of Education, had persuaded six other men interested in good male choral music to sit down and discuss forming a men's glee club. The Amherst Central Adult School had agreed to sponsor the new group as a part of its varied and expanding adult educational program.
Men from all walks of life and ages - teachers, mailmen, technicians, salesmen, carpenters, farmers, plumbers, barbers, machinists, engineers, merchants, policemen, draftsmen, clergymen, and many others. These were the talented men who joined the Amherst Male Glee Club from many towns and counties across the greater Buffalo area.
The Walter Reitz Years (1948 – 2006)
The Amherst Male Glee Club (AMGC), directed by Walter Reitz, presented a wide variety of musical works over the years, including diversified programs within each show. Members performed classical and popular songs, both sacred and secular numbers, jazz and barbershop arrangements, show tunes, glee club standards and folk songs, as well as spirituals and comedy routines.
The Glee Club’s dedicated members practiced weekly, memorized the music, and sang and performed shows for neighbors and friends in local communities, as well as occasionally for out-of-town concerts. An annual musical revue held each spring marked the culmination of their hard work during the musical year and was followed by the popular "after-glow" event for their families and friends. Both traditions continued to be upheld by the group today with the annual Red Blazer Varieties Show.
Amherst Male Glee Club and other choirs at the 1983 International Big Sing in Grand Rapids, MI.
As a member of the Associated Male Choruses of America (AMCA) for many years the AMGC has participated in regional "Big Sings" in western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania and southern Ontario on an annual basis. They traveled to international "Big Sings" at Grand Rapids, Michigan, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Marquette, Michigan, and in 1998 they were the host chorus for an International Big Sing held at the Convention Center in Buffalo, where almost 1,000 men amassed on stage for the presentation of combined choral numbers.
Walter Reitz’s personality, his conducting style and his general sense of humor made him one of the best known and most admired musical directors in the history of the Associated Male Choruses of America (AMCA). With his love of vocal music, Walter Reitz inspired the men of AMGC to join, developing in members the importance of sharing music in the community and with each other.
the red blazers (2006 - today)
In 2006, the group found a dynamic new director in Brett Ransom. Brett came highly recommended and qualified, and he was chosen to carry on the torch for the future of the Red Blazers.
In 2013, the group changed their name to the Red Blazer Men’s Chorus to reflect their signature concert uniform.
TODAY
The Red Blazers’ current membership is approximately 45 men from all over the Western New York area, and has included some members from Ontario. They continue their over-75-year tradition of performing for the local community, including their annual Holiday and Spring Variety Shows.
