Usdan Center Gala Honors Violinist Rachel Lee on August 5th

(Long Island, N.Y.) Usdan Center For the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com), named a 2009 “Best Of” class or camp by TimeOutNY/Kids, NY Metro Parent and Long Island Press, will honor violinist Rachel Lee with a Distinguished Young Artist Award at its annual Gala Concert on Wednesday August 5 at 7 PM. The performance, to take place at Usdan Center’s McKinley Ampitheater, on its 200-acre campus at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights (Huntington area) Long Island, will feature Usdan music, dance and theater students, as well as an exhibit by the visual arts department.

Usdan Center’s Executive Director Dale Lewis says “We are thrilled to present Usdan’s highest award to Rachel Lee, a true Usdanite, one whose artistry is celebrated throughout the world.  The Center was among Rachel’s first presenters, and her loyalty to our students is unique.  She has embraced a tradition of annual appearances at Usdan, and we welcome her back to receive this very special award.”

Concert tickets (general admission), are $25. Patron tickets, for a 5:30 PM dinner and concert, including priority parking and reserved concert seating, are $150 per person.  For tickets, write to gala@usdan.com, or call (631) 643-7900.

A performance last year by the teenaged Rachel Lee caused the Chicago Tribune to rave that the performer “already commands an impressive musical profile – her sound is luscious, her bow work has dazzling dexterity, and she pours out endless floods of  ardent lyricism.” The young artist has already appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Seoul Philarmonic  and Berlin Staatskapelle, and has given recitals at the Verbier Festival and the Louvre recital series in Paris. A favorite of Usdan students, she has performed at the Center for each of the past 10 years, beginning at age nine.  In 2008 Rachel was named a “Usdan Lifer” in celebration of her many performances there.

Usdan Center 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. 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 singers Jane Monheit and Mariah Carey, actresses Natalie Portman and Lisa Gay Hamilton, and members of 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 year-round program of immersion in the visual arts for selected high school students, the Usdan Honors Art Collective.  The Collective, open to talented art students in grades 9 to 11, begins at Usdan Center during the summer, and continues through the following May with bi-weekly meetings at Usdan, and at New York’s great museums and galleries.

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