Usdan Center's August 5th Gala to Honor Dale Lewis

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned summer arts day camp now in its 48th season, will present its annual Gala tomorrow, August 5, at 6 PM at the McKinley Amphitheater on the Center's 200-acre woodland campus. There will be a 6 PM concert, followed by a 7:30 PM Gala Patron Dinner honoring Executive Director Dale Lewis; after 36 years at the Center, he is stepping down in the fall to direct the new Arts Reach Fund at Long Island Community Foundation.

Tickets for the Gala concert cost $25, and can be obtained by writing to gala@usdan.com, calling (631) 643-7900, or by visiting www.usdan.com/gala. In addition to the concert-only tickets, there are also special Patron packages available. These include priority parking, a 7:30 PM post-concert dinner, and priority seating at the Gala Concert. For information on Patron tickets, call Patrice Frank at (631) 643-7900.

The 2015 Gala Concert will feature performances by Usdan's Jazz Ensemble, the Senior Concert Band, and other departments. A highlight will be the Senior Orchestra in Dvorak's "Slavonic Dance #2," "Hatikvah" with the Junior Chorus and a "My Fair Lady" Suite for Orchestra with the Usdan Musical Rep and Senior Chorus (both pieces arranged by Adam Glaser), and the second movement of Howard Hanson's Symphony #2 (the "Romantic" Symphony) with the Festival Orchestra, including Usdan faculty and alumni. The conductors will be Adam Glaser (Conductor of the Pre-College Orchestra at The Juilliard School), Orchestra; David Schecher, Concert Band; Karen Lehman DiMartino, Junior Chorus; Stephanie Welles, Senior Chorus; and Andrew Giammalvo, Jazz Ensemble.

Usdan Center's Gala Concert is the highlight of its 48th summer season, during which 1,600 children, ages 5-18, study the arts with the Center's faculty of world-class artist- teachers. Students travel to the Center each day from New York City and throughout the Tri-State Area. The Center is situated on a 200-acre woodland campus at 185 Colonial Springs Road, Wheatley Heights (Huntington), Long Island.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, whose alumni include jazz singer Jane Monheit, Natalie Portman, Olivia Thirlby and Mariah Carey, has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. Usdan's program features more than 60 three, four and 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, 1,600 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.

In addition to its regular programs, Usdan offers special opportunities for advanced high school- age performing and visual artists. Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York. For more information on Usdan Center, write to info@usdan.com, Call (631) 643-7900, or visit www.usdan.com.

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