A concert to benefit the effort to help save the Silver Maple Forest near Alewife is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 630 Mass. Ave.

Jim Scott, Stan Strickland, Fred Small, Maya Apfelbaum and Elke Jahns will sing and perform to perserve the small-river, floodplain forest in the midst of Boston’s densely developed western corridor among Cambridge, Belmont and Arlington. The forest, also known as the Belmont Uplands, is the ecological core buffer of the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Alewife Reservation with its river, streams and ponds. Development threatens the area.

According to Friends of the Resveration (FAR) and others, these features benefit the area with natural storm water storage, which mitigates flooding, and will be needed as a "climate adaptation center" in the future.

The seven-acre forested area is also a rich and unique habitat for rare animals and birds, including otter, deer, coyote, fox and nearly 100 bird species, many nesting, and some of which require uplands and wetlands to sustain their life cycles. The concert will celebrate these resources and efforts to protect them for local communities.

Concert sponsors from Cambridge, Belmont and Arlington and Boston are the Coalition to Preserve the Belmont Uplands, FAR, Green Cambridge, Cambridge Climate Emergency Group, Coalition to Preserve Belmont Uplands, Arlington Land Trust, Belmont Land Trust, Sustainable Arlington, Green Port Neighborhood Association, Mass. Chapter of Sierra Club - Greater Boston, Belmont Citizen Forum, Mass. Peace Action and the Mystic River Watershed Association.

Reserve your ticket with an online donation of $18 per admission at www.belmontcoalition.org. Your PayPal receipt or e-mail confirmation will be your ticket: Tickets may also be obtained at the door for a $20 fee.

Special donation requests will be considered.

Jim Scott 

Composes and strums in behalf of the environment everywhere, and sings of peace in the land. bringing rich repertoire from the Paul Winter Consort, and co-composer of the haunting Missa Gaia, an earth mass performed across the country for nearly thirty years. “The Tree and Me” is Jim’s stage musical about saving ancient northwest forests. “The Earth and Spirit Songbook.” Is about peace and ecology. He performed with Tracy Chapman, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchel, Jackson Brown, John Denver, Tom Chapin, Dan Fogelberg, Odetta, and jazz flautist, Paul Horn, and with Holly Near in Nicaragua, and also in Australia, performing at the Institute for Earth Education. A published poet, writer and a teacher, he’s also produced instruction books on guitar techniques. A “world music” group he organized, explored the convergence of jazz, classical, folk and ethnic influences producing “Instruments of Peace”.

Stan Strickland
World renowned saxophonist, flautist, singer and actor has performed in Symphony Halls of Boston, New York, D.C, with many jazz notables such as Herbie Mann, Marlene Shaw, Bob, Moses, Webster Lewis, opening in an earlier era with Miles Davis, and Sonny Rollins. His repertoire develops from his many passions, which shine in his films and stage. He took the lead in “Harlem Renaissance”, and was featured in “Black Man Up”. And performed at the recent Sundance Festival for academy award, “Born Into Brothels”. Stan has taught at Tufts, Lesley, Longy and Berklee Schools of Music and is on the staff. He cares deeply about youth, and works with adolescents in art as Director of “Express Yourself” for improvement of health and welfare of youth.

Elke Jahns
This haunting Native American flute player holds a BA in Geology and Environmental Science and a Master of Music in flute performance. She performs regularly on both classical and Native American flutes at weddings, church services, and other events in the Boston area. She is currently pursuing a PhD in International Development at Tufts’ Fletcher School, and has lived in Central and South America and East Africa, working on projects related to rural poverty, climate change, HIV/AIDS care and support, women’s rights, sustainable agriculture, and environmental education. Her flutes are among the first things she packs on her travels.

Fred Small
Hailed by Peter Seeger as “one of America’s best songwriters,” Fred sings in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. His songs are interpreted around the world by Pete and Peggy Seeger. “The Heart of the Appaloosa” was elected to the all-Time Bluegrass Hit Parade. Flying Fish Records released his live concert album, “Everything Possible”. By seven years old, Fred was playing songs. His concerts extend throughout the US, invited frequently to venues of social justice, folk festivals and climate change performances. Yellow Moon Press produces his song books. He has practices as an attorney for Conservation Law Foundation, continuing in his careers to pursue music. He later entered the Harvard Divinity School to become a Unitarian Universalist Parish Minister where he ncludes music as part of his Ministry. He has inspired two congregations, one in Acton, and in his present post at First Parish Cambridge.

Maya Apfelbaum
Director, performer and artist based in the Greenfield, Ma. specializing in creating site-specific, eco-theatre shows and parade celebrations. She makes masks and giant puppets as well as stilt dances. Her performances have been at conferences alongside Jane Goodall, Julia Butterfly Hill, David Abrams, and other notable environmental leaders along with the Mortal Beasts and Deities troupe. Maya developed a poignant one-woman dance narrative about elephants shown in India, Thailand, Canada, and US. Currently she is developing a zero-energy, arts-integrated village in Greenfield. From the Boston area, she taught arts and conservation programs in the public schools.

For further information, contact Ellen Mass (Cambridge) 617-415-1884; Idith Haber (Belmont) 617-932-1734; Quinton Zondervan (Cambridge) 617-388-3799; Maya Apfelbaum 978-339-3191.

This story was first published Jan. 3, 2012.