Usdan Center and Bethpage Partner to Form Usdan/Bethpage Scholar in the Arts

Five talented Long Island music students will receive a unique opportunity to study and perform at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts this summer, thanks to a new charitable scholarship program developed by the Usdan Center and Bethpage Federal Credit Union. The Usdan Center/Bethpage Scholar in the Arts program will give accomplished students who otherwise couldn’t attend Usdan, the opportunity to study at the award winning summer arts day camp. The students have been chosen for their fine musicianship and for their achievements as outstanding representatives of their communities.

Speaking of the program, Executive Director Dale Lewis said: “We are proud to become partners with one of Long Island’s most community minded organizations. Bethpage Federal Credit Union is a leader in Long Island banking, while it is also a pacesetter for corporate philanthropy in our region. I am delighted to welcome Bethpage into the Usdan Center family, and am grateful to the Kirk Kordeleski, President and CEO, and to his staff for their generous support of Long Island’s young artists.”

As part of the Usdan/Bethpage scholarship program, five individual Bethpage community branches will, in effect, “adopt” a Usdan/Bethpage scholar, and host an event in each community branch during the summer. The students were introduced to their Bethpage branch sponsors at a June 8, 2011 reception that took place at Usdan Center.

“The arts offer invaluable benefits to our communities, and the many deserving student artists that live and study on Long Island,” said Kirk Kordeleski, President & CEO, Bethpage Federal Credit Union. “Bethpage is privileged to be able to partner for the first time with the Usdan Center and develop this one-of-a-kind scholarship program for these five talented young artists.”

The winners of the Usdan/Bethpage Scholar in the Arts program are: Karin Aristy of Westbury; Justin Cheung of Commack; Matthew Mantione of Port Jefferson; Alon Simpson of Bay Shore, and Kirsten Schmidt of North Massapequa. Bethpage community branches in Commack, Bay Shore, Port Jefferson, Westbury, and Massapequa are sponsoring their awards.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com), is the nation’s premier not-for-profit summer arts day camp. Usdan, now entering its 44th season, has been declared a “Best Of” camp TimeOutNY/Kids, and by NY Metro Parents, and Long Island Press. Usdan is open to all young people from age 6 to 18, and no audition is needed for most programs. Admission to Usdan is based on an expression of interest in the arts. The Center is situated on a 200-acre woodland campus in Huntington, Long Island, to which 1,600 students travel each day on buses that depart from neighborhoods throughout the New York metropolitan area. Although Usdan’s mission is for every child to establish a skill-based relationship with the arts, the unique inspiration of the Center has caused many to go on to professional careers. Usdan’s 60,000 alumni include actors Natalie Portman and Lisa Gay Hamilton, singers Jane Monheit and Mariah Carey, Tony-Award winning playwright Michele Lowe, Grammy-Award winning producer Adam Abeshouse, Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra conductor Adam Glaser, and members of major American orchestras, dance, and theater companies.

Usdan was formed to provide children with the arts as a companion for life through great teaching, and the camaraderie of fellow students whose bond is their love of the arts. Usdan offers more than 40 programs in orchestra, band, chorus, guitar, piano in the Music Department; ballet, modern, jazz, and tap dance in the Dance Department; musical theater or drama in the Theater Department; creative writing, fashion design, chess nature and ecology, and organic gardening. A special feature of each student’s program is the Center's series of Festival Concerts, daily educational performances by distinguished artists. Some of those who have appeared at Usdan include James Galway, Yo-Yo Ma, Canadian Brass, jazz artists Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Cark Terry, and Jane Monheit, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Limon Dance Company, and stars of numerous Broadway shows.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative, existing solely to serve its members and has experienced rapid growth in recent years to become a strong alternative to banks.  Bethpage was approved for the largest federal community charter in the U.S. in 2003 and now is Long Island's largest credit union and leading community financial institution with over 180,000 members, 22 branches and 60 shared service center locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties.   As a financial cooperative, Bethpage offers better rates, lower fees and a full menu of personal and commercial financial services.

Usdan’s Long Island campus includes 70 award-winning studios and theaters, each providing an inspiring collaboration with the Center’s magnificent woodland. Usdan is a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation of New York, and the Center is chartered by the Regents of the State of New York.

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Contact: Reva Cooper, Director of Public Information: (718) 965-0486; revacooper@earthlink.net
                                  
 

USDAN CENTER RECEIVES MULTI-YEAR JAZZ EDUCATION GRANT FOR NEW PROGRAM:
 
SUSTAINING AMERICAN JAZZ: INSPIRING YOUNG ARTISTS AND AUDIENCES
 
Scholarships for promising students, commissions for new works by Richard DeRosa and Ted Rosenthal, public school collaborations, performances and master classes by distinguished artists
 
 

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com), the renowned not-for-profit summer arts day camp whose Jazz Department was founded in 1986 by legendary jazz artist/educator Dr. Billy Taylor, announces a two-year initiative grant provided by the Rauch Foundation’s Founders’ Memorial Program, for a new program titled Sustaining American Jazz: Inspiring Young Artists and Audiences. Intended to stimulate jazz pedagogy and performance by young students, the program will include scholarships each year to promising high school students for summer jazz study at the Center, commissions for new works by leading composers, collaborations with Long Island high school jazz ensembles for additional performances of the new pieces, and concerts and master classes at the Center by prominent artists (past performances and master class teachers have included Jimmy Heath, Arturo O’Farrill, John Faddis, and Marion McPartland).
 
Usdan Center Executive Director Dale Lewis says, “Our Usdan community is honored to have been selected to develop this important jazz program, one designed to bring the riches of this authentic American art form to its widest possible audience. Jazz, called by Dr. Taylor “America’s classical music,” is an indigenous genre that has long been "Made in America,” yet many young people are largely unfamiliar with its riches. The newly commissioned pieces will be accessible for young audiences. It is our hope that the second and third performances of this music, to be presented by Long Island high school jazz ensembles, will engage young performers in the joy of presenting a premiere. We will also include performances for younger students, in order to widen the audience for jazz performance, and for composers of jazz.”
 
The composers chosen to write the new works, which will premiere at the August 3 Usdan Gala Concert, are: for 2011, Richard DeRosa whose jazz arrangements have been performed by Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Gerry Mullian, Glenn Miller Big Bands and singer Susannah McCorkle. His original works have been played by orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. As a pianist and drummer, he has performed with Marian McPartland, Gerry Mulligan, Jackie Cain and Roy Kral and many other prominent artists, and in addition, he is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and The University of North Texas. For 2012, the composer of Usdan’s new work will be composer/pianist Ted Rosenthal, called “A new jazz leader” by the New York Times. Rosenthal’s compositions have been played by artists such as Ron Carter, and his newest work is shortly to premiere with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony in Manhattan. In 2008, Usdan Center presented the instrumental premiere of his jazz quintet SwingFlight, originally written to accompany the Nilas Martins Dance Company. A First Prize-winner of the Thelonius Monk Competition, Rosenthal has toured with Art Farmer, Jon Faddis, Gerry Mulligan and other major artists, and also teaches at Juilliard.
 
Usdan Center, whose alumni include jazz singer Jane Monheit, has introduced the arts to more than 50,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. The Center is open to all young people from age 6 to 18. Usdan’s program features more than 40 seven-week programs in music, dance, theater, visual arts, writing, nature & ecology, and chess. 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 in air-conditioned buses each day. One-third of Usdan’s students attend on scholarship. Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique stimulation of the Center has caused many to go on to arts careers. Alumni include members of Broadway shows and major music, theater, and dance ensembles such as the Boston Pops and the New York City Ballet.
In addition to its regular programs, Usdan offers special opportunities for advanced high school-age performing and visual artists. These include Music Staff Internships, a Summer Ballet Intensive, and a program of immersion in the visual arts and college preparation for selected high school students. It is called the Usdan Center Visual Arts Portfolio Preparation Track.  Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York.
 
Usdan Center is holding its final Open Houses for the 2011 season on Wednesday April 20 and Sunday May 15, 11 AM to 2 PM each day. Families who cannot attend may make appointments for other dates. For more information, write to openhouse@usdan.com, Call (212) 772-6060 or (631) 643-7900, or visit www.usdan.com
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