Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the nationally renowned Long Island summer arts day camp, enters its 46th season in 2013. The Center’s 7-week and 4-week programs begin on June 24th, and a new 3-week session will be offered from July 22nd - August 9th. Usdan, whose alumni include actors Natalie Portman and Olivia Thirlby, and singers Jane Monheit and Mariah Carey, has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. The Center is open to all young people from age 6 to 18. No audition is needed for most programs – rather, admission is based on an expression of interest in the arts. Each summer, 1,500 students are transported to the Center on air-conditioned buses that provide transportation in every New York-area town. Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique inspiration of the Center has caused many to go on to careers in the arts.

This season will see an expansion of the Usdan’s Jazz Studies Program with three separate jazz ensembles: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, giving students more personalized attention at their specific levels, as well as increased opportunities for performance at the Center’s 1,000-seat McKinley Amphitheater. Also new to the curriculum is a program in Technical Theater for 10th to 12th grade students wishing to study stage management and set construction. Recently added programs have been expanded for 2013, and these include Illustration and Book Design and Fashion Design, both programs of the Art Department. In addition, Usdan offers more than 40 ongoing programs in music, dance, drama and musical theater, visual arts, creative writing, organic gardening, nature and ecology, and chess.

Many of Usdan’s programs and special events, including excerpts from the Center’s most recent Gala Concert, may be viewed on the Center’s website. The website also has links to Usdan’s YouTube and Facebook sites, where additional information and late-breaking news is also featured.

Usdan Center is located on Long Island at 185 Colonial Springs Drive, Wheatley Heights (Town of Huntington.) The Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York.