Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts is a nationally recognized not-for-profit summer arts school chartered by the New York Board of Regents. Students, ages 6-18, travel daily to Usdan to explore and develop their talents in music, art, drama, dance, writing or chess. Located on a beautiful, 250-acre woodland campus in Huntington, New York, Usdan has a student body of 1,600 and an artist faculty of 200. Children study two hours each day in a major of their choice, one hour in an elective class and one hour at swim. All students attend the Usdan Festival Concert Series held in the center’s 1,000-seat Andrew McKinley Amphitheater. In recent seasons, the series has presented such celebrated artists as Emanuel Ax, Billy Taylor, The Tokyo String Quartet, Canadian Brass, Yo-Yo Ma, Broadway’s Savion Glover and stars of the New York City Ballet, among many others. Students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds commute to Usdan on air-conditioned buses leaving from most towns in the New York City metropolitan area; approximately one-quarter of all students receive financial assistance. The center is an agency of UJA-Federation.