The last concert to benefit the Arlington Education Foundation and Arlington FY11 public schools' Gap Fund is scheduled for Sunday, June 6, at 4 p.m. at the Arlington Town Hall. The afternoon of music will feature students from the Ottoson Middle School, a unique quartet composed of Kevin Greeley (Arlington selectman), Joe Curro (Arlington School Committee chair), Tim Ruggere (Ottoson principal) and Charlie Skidmore (AHS principal), Judson Pierce’s band Trial Run, and more. The first concert raised more than $11,000.

All proceeds from these concerts will help the Arlington Public Schools bridge the $3.9 million school budget gap next year. Donations for the FY11 School Gap Fund will be collected in lieu of admission. All musicians are donating their time and talent for the events.

The first concert was held Thursday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington High School Lowe Auditorium and featured the Tom Ferrante Swing Band.

In an e-mail to parents June 1, Ottoson Principal Tim Ruggere wrote: "One special note about Thursday night:  the band has agreed that the person who writes the largest check by the start of the second act will have the opportunity to conduct the band (or designate a friend) for 'In the Mood' that evening.  If you know anyone who has always harbored a desire to be a band leader, let them know to bring a checkbook Thursday night.  Or you bring your checkbook and help a friend's dream come true."

The Tom Ferrante Swing Band includes 12 of the area's most talented and experienced professional musicians. The current traveling bands of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, and Hal MacIntyre have enjoyed their work. Ferrante is known throughout New England as one of its finest woodwind artists.  Ferrante has been a soloist with the New Hampshire, Cape, Rhode Island Symphonies, the Boston Ballet Orchestra and featured soloist in concerts and recordings with John Williams and Keith Lockhart with the Boston Pops Orchestra.  

The Arlington FY11 Group and the Arlington Education Foundation (AEF) have worked together to create the ‘FY11 School Gap Fund’, a one year emergency fundraiser to help bridge the deficit gap.  The goal of the Fund is to raise $1M to preserve the investment Arlington has made in its teachers and prevent overcrowded classrooms.  In order for parents and teachers to know what FY11 programs will be cut before the current school year ends, the campaign will close on June 7, 2010.  All donations are tax deductible.

Donations can be sent to:  Arlington Education Foundation, P.O. Box 80, Arlington, MA 02476.  Please specify that you want your donation to go to the ‘FY11 School Gap Fund’.

For more information or to donate to the fund, visit www.arlingtoneducationfoundationma.org/. 

The Arlington Education Foundation (AEF) is a nonprofit 501c3 organization that works to support and advance public education in Arlington, MA. AEF funds systemwide initiatives and creative new projects to enhance the educational experiences of Arlington’s teachers and students. 

The Arlington FY11 Group is an active group of concerned citizens and parents who advocate for the schools in Arlington.  The group’s focus is to find solutions to the fiscal year 2011 school budget deficit to minimize the effect on students.  To join the group, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArlingtonFY11/

Ferrante, an Arlington resident, with a daughter in the school system, is known throughout New England as one of its finest woodwind artists.

A graduate of New England Conservatory and Boston Conservatory, he was director of bands at Waltham High School and associate professor of saxophone at UMass Lowell.

He was the first president of the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators which instituted a successful festival system which is directly responsible for the success of the high school jazz ensemble programs in the state.  

He has been a soloist with the New Hampshire, Cape, Rhode Island Symphonies, the Boston Ballet Orchestra and featured soloist in concerts and recordings with John Williams and Keith Lockhart with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

The Tom Ferrante Swing Band includes 12 of area's most talented and experienced professional musicians, some of whom are Arlington residents. The current traveling bands of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, and Hal MacIntyre have enjoyedtheir work.

The band meets regularly to rehearse new literature and has performed for concerts and dances. Their library is extensive and varied, mostly featuring the very best music of the "Big Band" Swing era.