Ralph S. Opacic, Ed.D.
President & CEO
Ralph S. Opacic, Ed.D. has spent more than 25 years building institutions that turn young people's artistic talent into disciplined, working ability. He founded Orange County School of the Arts in 1987 and now leads Orange County Music & Dance, where he is expanding access to arts training from early childhood through adulthood.
His path in arts leadership
Ralph S. Opacic started as a choral and vocal music teacher at Los Alamitos High School, then moved from the classroom into building institutions. In 1987 he founded Orange County School of the Arts and led it as President and Executive Director until 2021, assembling a faculty of artist-teachers and academic instructors that helped make OCSA one of the top-ranked arts high schools in the country. Alongside that work he founded West Coast Musical Theatre Company, West Coast School of the Arts, and Pacific Coast Dance Fest, each aimed at giving young performing and visual artists structured, serious training.
After leaving OCSA, he spent several years consulting with arts schools and institutions across California and the country, including work with the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center, applying what he had learned about running an arts organization to other schools facing the same questions of faculty, funding, and program design.
In October 2025 he became President & CEO of Orange County Music & Dance, an organization he had already served on the board of for ten years. He is now leading its expansion, including a second campus and a "womb to tomb" model that offers arts instruction at every stage of life. His approach rests on a belief he states plainly: the arts build confidence, discipline, and creativity that carry into every part of a student's life.
Writing
November 8, 2026
Ralph Opacic on the Role of Arts Education in Developing the Whole Person
The value of arts education cannot be measured only by the performances students give, the competitions they enter, or the professional careers they eventually pursue.
November 8, 2026
Ralph Opacic’s Vision for Lifelong Access to Music and Dance Education
Arts education is often associated with childhood and adolescence, when students first begin exploring music, dance, theatre, and other creative disciplines.
October 19, 2026
The Trade-Off Nobody Names When an Arts Program Grows
Every arts program eventually has this meeting. Enrollment is up. A waitlist has formed. Someone on the board says the word "expand," and everyone nods, because who argues against reaching more kids?
October 19, 2026
Two Versions of a Training Year, and Why They Produce Different Artists
Picture two young dancers, or singers, or actors, with the same raw ability on day one. Give one of them a bad training year and the other a good one, and by June they are not close to the same artist…
October 19, 2026
The Question Parents Should Be Asking About Arts Training
Almost every parent who walks into an arts program asks the same question, in some form: "Will my child make it?" Will they get into a good conservatory? Will they land the lead?
