OCMD on OC Business Journal

OC Music & Dance to Open 2nd Campus

OC Music & Dance to Open 2nd Campus

EDUCATION: Adds family classes, conservatory programs

Irvine — Orange County Music & Dance announced plans this month to buy a 25,000-square-foot building for $10.8 mil lion to use as a second campus for its stu-dents, solving its previous problem of limited instructional space for new classes.

The new building is minutes away from the organization's current Irvine headquarters

at 17620 Fitch and is scheduled to open in November after reno-vations.

The purchase doubles the organization's footprint to nearly 50,000 square feet and allows OCMD to begin offering a broader music and dance curriculum for a wider range of ages, with more developmental classes and protessional training beyond its private instruction and basic skills sessions.

"We needed the space to truly be a comprehensive pre-K to 12 arts community music and dance school," OCD's newest Chief Executive Ralph Opacic told the Business Journal. "How fantastic would it be to start getting kids engaged and involved in music as infants or toddlers, and then be involved in their full music development?"

The nonprofit said it will launch three new programs at the second facility at 17872 Cowan Ave. and expects to increase enrollment by 400 students.

"We are deeply grateful for the support we've received from our generous donors and our board for making this new facility and program expansion possible," Opacic said in a statement.

Exiting the Great Park

Facing two to three years of construction and potentially nearly $20 million in debt, OCMD announced plans in February to exit its previous Great Park expansion project, according to Co-founder and Executive Chair Doug Freeman.

There were also challenges with getting the site approved. "We couldn't button down the actual construction costs, which makes it pretty scary if you're limited to your borrowing, and you may not be able to finish the building," Freeman said.

Freeman also noted that the Cowan campus would provide better accessibility to the underserved communities.

"While we were prepared to find a workable plan, the Cowan building is a 10 - 15 minute ride from many of the schools that serve our low income families," he told the Business Journal.

The groundbreaking date kept moving as well, Freeman said. Buying a second building took an 18-month timeline down to six months, allowing OCMD to launch its new programs sooner, Opacic said. Additionally, OCMD could buy the facility without taking on debt.

Freeman said that city officials did their best to make the deal work, but that "at the end of the day, the uncertainties made us rethink how to progress."

The founder stepped down as CEO last October with Opacic, founder of the nationally recognized Orange County School of the Arts, taking his place.

New Programming at OC Music & Dance

The new building on Cowan Avenue will include four new dance facilities, a large rehearsal space for ensembles such as band, orchestra and musical theater, a second piano lab, a new music production studio and about 15 flexible rehearsal rooms.

OC Music & Dance will debut two new music and dance programs at the second facility, which will begin a couple of months before it opens, around August and September.

The first will be a conservatory program, featuring college preparatory, preprofessional training for high school students who are performing at an intermediate to advanced level.

The second will be a pre-conservatory program for sixth to eighth graders, designed to be a "feeder" for the high school program. “And it further strengthens the pathways available for those students who, at an early age, are seeking a premier experience that supports their goals," Opacic said.

Specialized group and technique classes, musicianship and theory training, rehearsal and repertoire-based training, individualized coaching and performance opportunities in various music genres and dance styles will be offered across both programs. Opacic has hired several new staff members, including some from his former school faculty, to help with the new conservatories.

OCMD will also debut new carly childhood music and dance programs for children 6 months to 5 years old at the new facility; the nonprofit's adult evening programs will also move there. Its discovery programs for kindergarteners to fifth graders will operate primarily at the existing site.

"The program is going to be a one-stop shop to serve families that have children, from womb to tomb," Opacic said. •