New Jersey Performing Arts Center has opened registration for its 2026 summer arts education programs, offering three weeks of full-day instruction for young artists.
The summer camp will run July 13–31 and is open to students ages 9 to 18. A separate TD Jazz for Teens Summer Intensive is scheduled for July 27–Aug. 1.
Programs operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The three-week camp costs $900, while the one-week jazz intensive is priced at $400. Officials said financial aid is available and no student will be turned away for inability to pay.
All courses are led by professional teaching artists who are active in their fields. A social worker is also embedded within the programs to support students and families.
Organizers said the curriculum is student-led and designed to support both artistic and personal development.
“In our summer programs, young artists learn essential performing arts skills,” said Jennifer Tsukayama, vice president of Arts Education at NJPAC. “But we also teach them to value their life experiences and to use the power of the arts to discover who they are and what’s important to them.”
The TD Jazz for Teens Summer Intensive is led by Mark Gross, NJPAC’s director of jazz instruction and a Grammy Award-winning alto saxophonist and composer. The program focuses on ensemble playing, music theory, improvisation, and arrangement.
Participants will also attend the Newport Jazz Festival from July 31 to Aug. 1.
Summer camp sessions will take place at NJPAC facilities at 31 Mulberry St. and 1 Center St. in Newark. The jazz intensive will be held at Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall at Rutgers University.
The 2026 session has been reduced to three weeks due to construction tied to NJPAC’s campus redevelopment. A key component of the project is the Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center, a 58,000-square-foot facility expected to open in 2027.
The new building will house classrooms, a children’s arts reading room, and a 175-seat education lab for performance and technical theater training. It will also serve as the future home for NJPAC’s arts education, community engagement, and arts & well-being programs.
Additional details and class descriptions are available through NJPAC’s education programs website. njpac.org/education
