See Dan Zanes and more family-friendly concerts this summer on Long Island

After a seven-year absence, Grammy Award-winning family musician Dan Zanes is returning to Long Island May 27 — and this time, he’s bringing his wife, Claudia, a Haitian American jazz singer, along to perform.

The outdoor event kicks off at 12:30 p.m. on the lawn adjacent to the Tilles Center for the Performing Art’s Frank and Rita Castagna Plaza in Brookville, with free face painting, bubbles, crafts and lawn games. Barbecue items will also be for sale. The hourlong performance begins at 2 p.m. — geared for both neurodiverse and neurotypical children as part of both the Tilles Center and Dan + Claudia Zanes’ emphasis on inclusiveness.

“It’s a party atmosphere, but if we feel as though someone might have been left out, it’s not the same kind of party,” Zanes says. “We’ve really made a point for the last six years of always talking to presenters to see about opening the doors wider in creating conditions in the theaters so more people feel comfortable. We make it known that it’s going to be a relaxed atmosphere, that people aren’t expected to sit quietly in their seats. You come and react to the music however you want.”

Claudia is a music therapist who has worked with children on the autism spectrum and with intellectual and physical disabilities, and the duo says they’ve incorporated her calling into what they do on stage. “A lot of call and response, a lot of really creating a space where audience members can just show up as they are and engage in the music through a number of ways, whether that’s singing, dancing, you name it,” she says.

Fans will hear songs such as “Coney Island Avenue” and “Night Train 57.” “We’ll do ‘Catch That Train’ for sure, from the Grammy Award-winning record of the same name,” Zanes says. “Most likely, we’ll do at least a couple of songs from our latest record, called ‘Let Love Be Your Guide.’”

That record came about in part because of the Zanes’ commitment during the pandemic to posting a song every day on their YouTube channel — they did so for 200 days straight from their home city of Baltimore. While many of the songs were already part of their repertoire, they also wrote new ones.

“I always believed that young people deserved to have music and culture and entertainment at the highest possible level,” Zanes says. “But when I met Claudia, the music took a big step forward in every way. I’m really excited to come back to Long Island because the dream of creating artful, sophisticated homemade music for families and for young people is more fully realized now that it ever was.”

Families should bring their own lawn chairs or blankets; in case of inclement weather the event will be moved indoors to the Krasnoff Theater.

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.