Who we are
Founded in 1926, The Count Basie Center for the Arts is New Jersey’s premier center for the cultural arts, with a mission to Inspire, Educate and Entertain through its variety of live events, opportunities in arts education and community engagement. Every year, tens of thousands of students and more than a quarter million eventgoers experience Count Basie Center programming.
Over the last decade, the Basie Center organization has grown to include two performances spaces (the historic Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre and The Vogel), Basie Center Cinemas, community theatre company Phoenix Productions, and the Grunin Arts & Education Building, home to all Turner Academy of the Arts programming, including the Count Basie Center Conservatory of Music.
The Count Basie Center embraces and amplifies positive change through diversity and inclusion — from our offerings onstage, to our work in the community and our efforts to recruit the best possible workforce for our nonprofit org.