An evening of music featuring more than 30 alumni of the Gloucester Public Schools music program, including Mayor Greg Verga, will be part of a special Battle of the Band Alumni fundraiser this Saturday, Dec. 27, at The Cut.
The event, organized by the newly established Gloucester Band Youth Boosters, features 12 local bands.
Music will be performed in roughly 20-minute sets, with the exception of the closing band. Kicking off the music at 5:40 p.m. is Cold Start, followed by Foggy Sun, Walker Creek Sax Quartet, Dogtown, Moonrakers, 2-1 ska, Old Hickory Boulevard, The Chip Rockers, The Doucette Brothers, The Runaround, Funk Factor and Mile 21. This is an 18 and older event.
A panel of judges will vote for their favorite band to receive special prizes including their very own gig at The Cut, said Jamie Klopotoski, coordinator of the Gloucester Elementary School Band.
The judges are Emily Siegel, executive director of the Gloucester Education Foundation; Dan Graham, an O’Maley Middle School adjustment counselor; and Vanessa Lindberg, the multilingual learner liaison at Gloucester High School.
Additionally, audience members can vote for their favorite individual alumni to win a trophy and gifts from local businesses by purchasing vote tickets for $1 each.
All money raised will help bridge the estimated $30,000 gap in funding needed to sustain the schools’ band programs and keep them free for all families with students in grades four to eight.
“Not only is our goal to raise $15,000 at this event, we also hope to raise awareness of how important school band programs are,” Klopotoski said. “Without music education in Gloucester, these 12 bands, each with alumni from Gloucester Public Schools, would not exist.”
Siegel said thanks to a recent anonymous donation for music education granted to the foundation, the donor will match each dollar raised up to $10,000.
The Gloucester Education Foundation has been working closely with Klopotoski, O’Maley Middle School Band Director Carlos Menezes Jr. and Assistant Superintendent Amy Pasquarello to discuss ways to collectively sustain the band programs.
That’s when the idea arose about an alumni event at The Cut around the time of the holidays — when people are home, providing an opportunity to see old classmates, much like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving has become the night to go out and reconnect with old schoolmates.
“It would be wonderful to see this blossom into an annual event that people come back to, and a way for the Gloucester Youth Band Boosters to put a spotlight on these musicians and the schools being the primary source of learning music,” Siegel said. “Many of these alumni learned about music first in Gloucester schools.”
The high school has had a band booster group for many years, but this will be new for the middle and elementary schools, she said.
The Gloucester Band Youth Boosters is in the process of becoming a registered nonprofit organization.
If someone is unable to attend the event, but would like to contribute, a donation can be made by check to the Gloucester Education Foundation with “4-8 Band Boosters” on the memo line, and mailed to Gloucester Education Foundation, P.O. Box 1104, Gloucester, MA 01931.
Gail McCarthy may be contacted at 978-675-2706, or gmccarthy@northofboston.com.