Usdan’s Music Department features large ensemble concert bands and orchestras, in addition to vocal ensembles, jazz ensembles, and piano and guitar classes of varying levels, all led by our incredible music faculty, made up of experienced educators and professional musicians and conductors.
Students who are interested in taking Music for their Minor as well as their Major have the opportunity to do so by starting a new instrument or by continuing their instruction in a different instrument than the one they are using for Major.
A combination of large-ensemble work and small-group sectional study allows students in our Concert Band and Orchestra Majors to experience a mix of both group and solo performance development. In all Music classes, faculty aim to expand students' love of music with a wide range of repertoire from diverse genres, time periods, and composers.
To ensure that our ensembles best serve the group, instrumentalists in our Concert Band, Orchestra, and Jazz Ensemble Majors must have at least one year of experience playing their instrument and an ability to read music.
Music students learn in open-air studios with at least one side completely open and exposed to the beauty of Usdan’s surrounding woodland campus.
At Usdan, young artists in grades 4-12 from beginner to advanced are given the tools and knowledge they need to compose original music. Students spend their days developing and refining either a new composition project, or a project they have already begun, in open-air studios and creative spaces around Usdan’s 140-acre wooded campus.
Across a 4-week session, students collaborate with professional musicians and composers to bring their original compositions to life. In previous summers, Composition students worked alongside musicians from The Knights and International Contemporary Ensemble, who then performed the students’ original pieces. At the conclusion of each class, students can look forward to either performing their composition for a live audience and/or taking home a professional recording of their work.
Classes are small and faculty spend ample time working one-on-one with each student, allowing the class to include students ranging from first-time composers to award-winners with experience composing for large orchestral ensembles.
Hailing back since Usdan's founding in 1968, the Music Merit Scholarship Program recognizes top talent among young instrumentalists and vocalists in the New York City and Long Island areas. Young instrumentalists and vocalists interested in attending Usdan this summer as Music Majors may apply and audition for this scholarship program that awards between 10 and 95% of tuition towards Usdan’s 4- or 8-week Classic Program in Music only taking place between June 29 and August 21, 2026.
Learn more and apply today!
For over fifty years, Usdan has offered an enriching arts, music, theater, creative writing and dance summer camp experience to children all over the region, from Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn in New York City, to Port Washington and Huntington, and all over Nassau and Suffolk counties. Usdan offers busing to and from camp from convenient central pickup locations. For more information on busing, please visit our Transportation page.
| Class | Session | Major/Minor | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Festival Showrunners: Usher, Host & Capture! |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
Recreational Camp |
1-Week Rec Camp |
Major
|
|
Chess |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
Performance: Children’s Theater |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Performance: Musical Theater |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Performance: The Usdan Troupe |
8-Week |
Major
|
|
|
Theater Skills: Improvisation & Theater Games |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Theater Skills: The Actor Sings |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Archery |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
|
U Time |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
|
Yoga |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
Nature, Ecology & Design |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Seed to Snack: Edible Gardening |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
Absolute Beginner Guitar Minor |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Absolute Beginner Piano Minor |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Chamber Ensemble |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Composition: Classical Music |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Composition: Intro to DJ Basics and the History of Hip-Hop |
4-Week A |
Minor
|
|
|
Composition: Songwriting |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Concert Band |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Guitar Minor (1-2 Years of Experience) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Jazz Ensemble (Major) |
4-Week A |
Major
|
|
|
Jazz Ensemble (Minor) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Junior Piano Major (3+ Years of Experience) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Junior Vocal Ensemble |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Orchestra |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Piano Minor (1-2 Years of Experience) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Senior Piano Major (4+ Years of Experience) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Senior Vocal Ensemble |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
Ballet |
4-Week A |
Major
|
|
|
Broadway Jazz Dance |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
|
Choreography |
4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Dance Adventure |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Hip Hop Dance (Major) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Hip Hop Dance (Minor) |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
|
Tap Dance |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
Creative Writing |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Creative Writing: Playwriting |
4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
Art Adventure |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Beginner Painting |
4-Week B |
Minor
|
|
|
Ceramics |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Comic Art |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Jewelry Making: Mixed Media |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
LEGO™ Construction |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Minor and Recreational Activity
|
|
|
Painting & Drawing |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Photography |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major and Minor
|
|
|
Portfolio Development |
4-Week A |
Minor
|
|
|
Sculpture |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
|
Sewing & Fashion Design |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
|
Discovery |
4-Week A4-Week B |
Major
|
