Orange County Music & Dance Acquires New Campus Ahead of November Opening, Doubling Capacity for Students and Programs

The following is a statement from an organization unaffiliated with Culture OC. The information provided has been written by the submitting organization and not by the writers at Culture OC. We include this on our site in the spirit of sharing information about the arts and culture community in Orange County. Press releases can be submitted to info@cultureoc.org.

Second Irvine campus enables significant expansion of OCMD program and student capacity. Photo courtesy of OC Music & Dance

---

Orange County Music & Dance, Southern California’s premier after-school pre-K to 12 performing arts school dedicated to cultivating the whole child through a rigorous and programmatic path to mastery, has announced the acquisition of a second building that will accommodate significant expansions of its resources and programs. Overall, the new facility will also allow OCMD to increase enrollment by 400 students.

Purchase of the 25,000-sq.-ft. new building, in very close proximity to its current location in Irvine near the intersection of the 55 and 405 freeways, will effectively double the school’s instructional space to a total of 50,000 sq. ft.

The new campus will accommodate five large dance/rehearsal studios, 10 smaller teaching/rehearsal studios, six music rehearsal rooms, state-of-the-art keyboard lab, advanced music production studio, and open areas for recital spaces.

In terms of program impact, the expansion will enable OCMD to offer additional programs for early childhood music and dance, pre-conservatory and conservatory programs for grades 612, a world music and global sounds program, and programs for adults.

“This new campus will open up significant new opportunities for OCMD to expand its capabilities for serving the Orange County community with programs that span early childhood through adult arts education,” said Dr. Ralph Opacic, President and CEO of Orange County Music & Dance and Founder of the nationally recognized Orange County School of the Arts and California School of the Arts San Gabriel Valley. “It will provide the resources to truly be the premier performing arts program accessible to people of all ages. 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.”

OCMD’s current Fitch Campus is located at 17620 Fitch in Irvine. The new Cowan Campus, at 17872 Cowan, is one minute away by car and less than a five- minute walk, for seamless interactions between faculty, staff and students.

Orange County Music & Dance is a non-profit performing arts school where artists, educators and students come together to grow talent and enrich lives. Programs include lessons, classes, ensembles and performance opportunities at every stage. With a belief that the performing arts should be accessible to all, OCMD offers financial assistance to support families in need.

For information on the wide array of programs available at Orange County Music & Dance, visit www.ocmusicdance.org.