Usdan Center Purchases Yamaha Pianos

BUENA PARK, CA (August 6, 2004) Each summer, 1,700 young musicians, dancers, artists, writers and actors flock to an arts school and festival situated on 150 acres of idyllic woodland in Huntington, New York. The not-for-profit program at the Suzanne and Nathaniel Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts was launched in 1968 through the vision and dedication of its founders, who were artists, educators and New York philanthropists.

Accompanied by a Yamaha Grand Piano, Usdan students perform in a summer choral concert.

With nearly 2,000 students and a 40-concert festival, the need for high-quality pianos is paramount. "Usdan has been a Yamaha institution for 20 years," reports Executive Director Dale Lewis. "Our local Yamaha dealer, Frank and Camille's, has been a wonderful advocate for the work of the Center. Through them we've enjoyed the loan of Yamaha pianos each season. The pianos were then sold by Frank and Camille's in a festival sale each fall."

"Yamahas have been used through these years by the Usdan's music, dance and theater departments," explains Lewis. "It's been a great relationship, and an exciting time for Usdan." And so, when the determination was made to purchase 50 upright pianos, the center turned again to Frank and Camille's. "The new uprights will be employed throughout the school," reports Lewis, "and we will continue to have the loan of Yamaha grand pianos for our large ensembles. We couldn't be more pleased. The U1 uprights have an even tone and are excellent for instructional purposes. We choose Yamahas because of their consistency and reliability."

Philanthropist Samuel Lemberg gave the initial gift to establish the Center, and named it for his daughter, Suzanne Usdan. Its program of music, art, theater and dance continues to thrive today under the auspices of the UJA-Federation of New York. Indeed, over the years Usdan's program has expanded to include writing, jazz studies, video arts, computer graphics, jazz, tap and Broadway theater dance, nature and ecology, chess and chamber music. Usdan's graduates include Mariah Carey, who performed in the Center's production of Fiddler on the Roof, and has since become a patron; Natalie Portman, whose acting career began at Usdan in the title role of Annie Get Your Gun; Lisa Gay Hamilton, a regular on the television drama The Practice; and rising jazz singer Jane Monheit, who performed at Usdan's thirty-fifth anniversary gala at Carnegie Hall.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; or telephone (714) 522-9011.