Many consider chorus teacher Barry Wyner to be one of the most well-known and beloved teachers at LHS since he began working here in 2011. Students love his passion for music and teaching, along with his fun and quirky personality. He encourages his students and challenges them to bring out their musical abilities, spread kindness, and be the best version of themselves.

Wyner is originally from a little city called Peabody, Massachusetts. “My parents still live in my childhood house,” he said, “so I still have a connection to the area, and I still have relatives up there.” Now, he resides in Richmond Hill, Queens, with his wife,Emilee; his five-year-old son, Levi; and his three-year-old daughter, Chloe. Wyner attended the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, where earned a degree in both advertising and music: “My heart wanted to do music, but I didn’t want my parents to worry about me having a livelihood, so I did a double major.” Initially, advertising was his primary concern, but he soon realized that music was his true passion and purpose.

Wyner’s lifelong goal was to make it big in musical theater. “I really wanted to work on Broadway, so I wrote to Stephen Sondheim,” he said. Sondheim, one of the most influential theatrical composers and one of Wyner’s idols, is known for passing his knowledge on to aspiring musicians. Wyner wrote him multiple letters, and, luckily, Sondheim always wrote him back. “His advice to me was to come to New York and to obtain a master’s degree in classical music, so that’s what I did,” Wyner said. 

Wyner moved to New York City in 1998 and attended Queens College for his master’s degree in opera composition. He laughed that he took any job he could find in order to pay for graduate school. “I took any job I could find to pay for my graduate schooling — private piano lessons, a musical theatre course at a nursing home, a Hebrew school music class — and I absolutely loved it. I realized that you could have more than one passion,” he said. 

Wyner’s first teaching job was at Lawrence Middle School, but he soon heard of Lynbrook South Middle School’s new music room and decided to interview to work there. The move from Lawrence to Lynbrook was an easy decision for Wyner, as he said Lynbrook felt like home. “At LHS, the music program has a lot of support. I also love that Lynbrook is like an old-fashioned, family-oriented community, similar to where I grew up, and I was drawn to that,” he added. Throughout his ten years at LHS, Wyner has taught a plethora of extremely talented students within his chorus classes, which is another thing he admires so dearly about the school: “There’s an incredible amount of musical talent in Lynbrook, I would say a disproportionate amount compared to other places,” he said.

Like many teachers, Wyner has had a challenging year of teaching, especially since singing is one of the more high-risk activities, in terms of spreading coronavirus. “I think we all kind of discovered that singing twelve feet apart from everyone with a mask on your face is unsatisfying,” he admitted. “It has been a huge challenge to keep kids engaged with music since you can’t do the main musical aspect of chorus. At the same time, though, I like a challenge, and I’ve tried to embrace it.” Through the difficulties, Wyner said that he stays inspired by the popular song “Spoonful of Sugar” from the musical Mary Poppins.

Wyner has been able to continue beloved chorus traditions this year, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic. One of his most well-known traditions is Performance Friday, which began ten years ago as the “Wyner Challenge.” “I thought it would be nice to end the week with students performing. I used to pick a song for the student, and they had to perform it, whatever song I picked. It was great, and kids were loving it; after a while, students just started to come to me, wanting to perform on Friday, and it has mushroomed into this whole tradition that everyone loves. I’m trying to hold onto it, especially this year,” Wyner said. 

LHS is in the process of building a new music wing and making improvements to the auditorium. “It’s what the students deserve,” Wyner said. “We have high-quality talent here at Lynbrook, and they deserve a high-quality music room. I have always wanted students to have the experience they deserve, and I think we can finally do it.” 

Wyner is also a globally-recognized playwright. Back in 2012, he composed a musical loosely based on his high school experience as well as the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. Wyner’s musical is called Calvin Berger, and follows the story of high school insecurities and navigating young love. It is published, has a recording on a major record label, and still gets performed around the world. “In 2004,” he said, “I was traveling in Africa with a friend, and I kept trying to think of an idea for a musical. All of the sudden, I thought, ‘What if I did Cyrano de Bergerac, set in a high school?’ In the play, they have insecurities, they pass love notes, and feel heightened emotions, and I thought it would just work well in a high school setting. When I couldn’t find anyone who had done it already, I decided to make it happen.” Writing this musical has allowed Wyner to meet many of his heroes, including Sondheim, and has led to the fulfillment of many of his lifelong dreams.

Fellow chorus teacher Timothy Waldvogel said, “It is never a dull moment with Barry! He is always making jokes, coming up with new, exciting material, and always making sure he gets his morning focus time. We can see the great impact he’s had on LHS. Chorus is fun and performing at a really high level. Watching him facilitate bonding in the classroom has been inspiring to me and has really helped me as an educator. I’m happy to call him my coworker and friend!”

Wyner is equally admired by his students. Senior Ricki Rizzo commented, “Mr. Wyner has always been one of my biggest fans and has always pushed his students to their greatest potentials.” Senior Marisa Hickey said, “Mr. Wyner has always had my back, whether it is onstage or off. I truly couldn’t be happier with a wonderful chorus teacher like Mr. Wyner.”