Students at the Henry Viscardi School, located at the National Center for Disability Services (NCDS) in Albertson, can now compose and perform orchestral music with literally the bat of an eyelash, or draw in the style of Picasso with real-time instruction from renowned artists hundreds of miles away.

A donation from John and Janet Kornreich enabled NCDS this fall to build the Rosalind and Arthur Brown Center for Music and Art, a unique facility wired with cutting-edge technology to bring a world of discovery and creativity to the Henry Viscardi School's 220 students with severe physical and medical disabilities.

On December 13, 2002, Edmund L. Cortez, president and CEO of NCDS, presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony that featured the Kornreich family, as well as New York State Assembyman Thomas DiNapoli (D-Thomaston), a longtime NCDS supporter who made possible the purchase of specialized equipment for the new Center.

"This facility allows us to offer the most modern and comprehensive arts program for children with disabilities in the country," said Cortez. "Active participation in the arts gives people with disabilities a measure of confidence, self-expression and practical skill that helps integrate them into everyday life."

Acknowledging the generosity of the Kornreich family, Assemblyman DiNapoli said: "We as a society need to do more to ensure that children with disabilities have equal access to all the opportunities our educational system and technology offer. I was pleased to secure state funding to purchase specialized musical instruments for the children, and honored to join with the Kornreichs, who are the significant benefactors who made this fabulous facility possible."

Cortez pointed out that as education budgets are squeezed, arts programs are most often the first to be cut. "The tendency to give arts the short shrift reflects a bias that we at NCDS reject outright," he said. Cortez explained that because music and art break down barriers that threaten to isolate students with disabilities, making broad-based arts instruction accessible to Henry Viscardi School students has been at the top of his priority list since being named president and CEO of NCDS in 1994.

The Rosalind and Arthur Brown Center for Music and Art comprises two spacious learning areas, one for music and one for the visual arts. The music area includes an advanced audio-visual system with Surround Sound and a one-of-a-kind infrared-laser device call Soundbeam, which allows students with limited movement to manipulate a synthesizer capable of producing the full gamut of sounds from a symphony orchestra. The visual-arts area is equipped with specialized assistive devices designed to maximize students' creativity and to develop practical skills for career opportunities, such as graphic design.

Both the music and visual-arts areas are linked for distance learning in real time, tapping into major cultural centers across the country. In addition, both rooms feature customized furniture and large, flexible-use spaces. According to Henry Viscardi School Superintendent Eileen McCarthy, the new center paves the way for increased art therapy and music therapy with specially designed instruments purchased through the efforts of Assemblyman DiNapoli.

The Rosalind and Arthur Brown Center for Music and Art is named after the parents of Janet Kornreich. The Kornreichs are longtime benefactors of NCDS. The family donated funds for the Nathaniel H. Kornreich Technology Center, one of the nation's leading resources of assitive technology and training for individuals, organizations and businesses concerned with disability issues.