Celebrate Broadway and the Ed. Foundation

The Rockville Centre Education Foundation has scheduled its 20th annual fundraising gala, "Celebrate Broadway" featuring performances from upcoming South Side High School and South Side Middle School spring musicals at the Hempstead Golf and Country Club at 7p.m. on April 10.

Former Rockville Centre Village Justice, the Honorable Frank Yannelli, is this year's gala honoree and Karen Faust Baer and Gene Kaplan, from South Side High School’s Music Department will each receive the Ruth Fins Memorial Award.

  Since 1991, Education Foundation grants have supported over 200 programs developed by district educators to benefit Rockville Centre's elementary, middle and high school students. From Gettysburg to Juillard, the foundation has enriched the education of the village's children. This annual black tie optional dinner dance is the primary source of funding for these exciting grants. Tickets are $150 per person.

Frank Yannelli, a judge, attorney and friend to many has long been active in village affairs. He served as a Village Justice for 27 years. Part of the first class recruited for the Education Foundation, he has been a member ever since. Yannelli facilitated the integration of Rockville Centre's Village Court with the South Side High School Student Court for the sentencing of juveniles to community service as punishment — and served as its judge. He founded the Village Judge Award, bestowed upon a SSHS senior each year in recognition of activity in the student government and of the rule of law. Additional activities include affiliation with the Rockville Centre/Lakeview Economic Opportunity Council and Confide, RVC’s drug and alcohol counseling center.

Karen Faust Baer, an educator, performer and mentor has been active in the Rockville Centre community as a music teacher in the district for over 26 years. She is South Side High School's chorus director and an International Baccalaureate music instructor. Her professional accomplishments include numerous solo and duet performances with groups including the South Shore Symphony and the Oyster Bay Arts Council. For 15 consecutive years, she has accompanied the finest singers in the state at the All State Mixed Chorus. Her former students include Broadway stars, top opera performing executives, professional instrumentalists and music group leaders.

Gene Kaplan is an educator, composer, arranger and performer. A music teacher in the Rockville Centre school district, Kaplan is a band leader, and teaches music tech. Kaplan is also an adjunct lecturer in applied music at Molloy College. His professional accomplishments include stints as a woodwind musician who doubles on both single and double reed instruments. Kaplan has played for shows, night- club acts and in various musical organizations from jazz and show bands to pit theater orchestras . He is also a composer-arranger who has written music for varied ensembles from jazz big bands to symphony orchestras.

  For more information, to buy tickets for the upcoming gala and to learn more about the foundation’s projects, visit www.rvcedfoundation.org.