Ask Ralph Opacic what he wants Orange County Music & Dance to become and he doesn’t hesitate to think big. He wants it to be a model arts institution, not just for Orange County, but for the state and nation.
“We are going to be the premier community art center in Orange County and beyond,” Opacic, CEO of the Irvine-based nonprofit, told the Business Journal.
Central to that vision is a phrase he repeats often: “womb to tomb.” It’s not a metaphor. It’s a goal.
OC Music & Dance’s (OCMD) new program lineup lays out that pathway: early childhood music and dance classes for children as young as 6 months; discovery programs for elementary school students; pre-conservatory and conservatory tracks for middle and high school performers; and adult dance and fitness classes.
Add offerings such as mariachi, world music and global sounds, musical theater and a string ensemble and the vision becomes clear: OCMD will be a place where people can remain connected to the arts for life.
With a $5 million endowment behind it, the organization has also made a promise: No student will be priced out of the arts.
The expanded programming will be supported by OCMD’s planned $10.8 million purchase of a 25,000-square-foot building that will serve as its second campus and double its footprint.
Located minutes from the nonprofit’s Irvine headquarters, the new campus is scheduled to open in November following renovations.
A Legendary Arts Leader
Opacic had already built one arts institution from nothing.
In 1987, he founded Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) with little more than an idea and a conviction that Orange County’s young performers deserved a serious training ground.
“I came from back East with a dream of becoming the next Billy Joel,” said Opacic. “I discovered my real passion was sharing the arts with others.”
By the time Opacic stepped down in 2021, OCSA had grown into one of the top-ranked arts high schools in the country. He spent the next several years consulting and guiding other arts schools and institutions across California and around the country, creating opportunities for students to flourish as artists and performers through strategic planning and innovation.
Then his friend Doug Freeman called.
Opacic had spent a decade on the OCMD board watching it grow from the passion project Freeman and founder Charlie Zhang built into a serious regional arts institution. When Freeman, executive chair of OCMD, asked Opacic to step in as the nonprofit’s chief executive last year, Opacic said yes. It wasn’t because he needed another job, but because he saw unfinished potential in an organization he already spent 10 years believing in.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead,” he said.
He described joining OCMD’s leadership as creating a “triumvirate,” already carried by two men with complementary strengths. Zhang, founder of Pick Up Stix and the real estate development company Zion Enterprises, brought his entrepreneurial instincts to the project.
Freeman, who founded National Philanthropy Day and spent 40 years as a lawyer before moving into executive roles in banking and philanthropy, leveraged his fundraising and philanthropic expertise to keep it growing.
Opacic brings a third piece—decades of experience turning arts education into a structured, scalable pathway for kids and adults alike.
“Our goal is creating more opportunities for everyone who loves the arts. We’re filling the void.”