Usdan Center to Host 'Voices of Broadway,' July 16

"Voices of Broadway,"on July 16, with cast members of The Producers, Avenue Q, Chicago, Les Miserables and Seussical, are among the featured performers at Usdan Center's Festival Concerts series -- educational performances for students at the nationally acclaimed summer arts camp.  Usdan Center alumni include many theatrical performers, such as Seth Rudetsky, Lisa Gay Hamilton (Gem of the Ocean) and Jordan Leeds (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change).

A star-studded lineup of music, theater and dance performers, including many Usdan Center alumni, will be featured during the 40th Anniversary Season of noontime Festival Concerts, which are daily student performances at the McKinley Amphitheater located on the campus of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com).  Usdan, America's premier summer arts day camp, has been called "One of the most unique camps in America" by Time Magazine. Usdan's 40th Season will open on Monday June 25, and run though August 10 at its magnificent woodland setting in Wheatley Heights (Huntington) Long Island.

Opening the season on June 25 will be the legendary jazz musician and educator Dr. Billy Taylor, coming out of retirement as a performer for one special day, to play with his trio.  Dr. Taylor is also returning to the Center where he created the Jazz Studies Department in 1986.  He was the program's Artistic Advisor for many years, along the way bringing in such stars as Marian McPartland, Clark Terry, Jon Fadis, and Jimmy Heath to teach and perform.

Other 2007 performers will include such Usdan Center alumni as New York Philharmonic percussionist Joseph Pereira, the Empire Brass (with Usdanite Marc Reese), pianist Adela Peña (founder of the Eroica Trio) with her string ensemble, and conductor Lawrence Isaacson (an alumnus of the Boston Pops and San Francisco Symphony).  Among the many other prominent alumni of the Center have been Mariah Carey, Natalie Portman and Jane Monheit.

The rest of the Festival Concerts, educational performances in the on-site McKinley Ampitheater, will feature the Tokyo String Quartet, the Limon Dance Company,  prizewinning pianist Alpin Hong, renowned violinist Rachel Lee with Rohan De Silva, and the acclaimed mime company The Chameleons.  The balance of the concerts will be performed by Usdan Center students.

"Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, founded to create lifelong relationships between children and the arts, is open to all young people ages 6 to 18 with an interest in the arts, and no audition is needed for most courses.  There are a variety of programs in music, dance, theater, visual arts, creative writing, film and video, chess and computers. More than 1,600 children attend each year from throughout the Tri-State area, picked up by special Usdan Center buses," state press materials. About a third of the students attend on scholarship. 

The Center is located at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights, (631) 643-7900.

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