Orange County School of the Arts
WE ARE OCSA!
“The award-winning Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) provides a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment that offers bright and talented students unparalleled preparation for higher education and a profession in the arts.
Founded in 1987 by visionary educator Dr. Ralph Opacic, OCSA has grown from a small after-school arts program into one of the premier arts schools in the nation. This innovative public charter school embraces and encourages artistic creativity and academic excellence, and produces lifelong learners who matriculate to top tier colleges, universities, and conservatory programs.
Orange County School of the Arts serves a diverse student body and is accessible to all students, regardless of their socioeconomic standing. The school is tuition free and donation dependent, and no student is offered or denied enrollment based on financial capacity. OCSA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)” – ocsarts.net.
Student Life
Naya Valentini was admitted in 2007, about to enter junior high school, after having auditioned for the Musical Theater Conservatory. Musical Theater is a passion she had since she was a child, inspired by her grandparents and godfather. Following the school schedule, from Monday to Thursday, she participated in the academic morning routine, attending the conservatory in the afternoon. On the last working day of the week, all school activities were geared towards the academic curriculum.
About the Musical Theater Conservatory
“The Musical Theater Conservatory offers a rigorous and comprehensive course of study for serious musical theater students in grades 7 through 12, who aspire to achieve a career on stage, in film and television, or in the recording arts. Students are exposed to classes in a variety of styles, including acting technique, vocal technique, vocal performance, audition technique, musical theater history, keyboard, music theory, musicianship, pop vocal, stage movement and combat, and stage makeup. Each year, the conservatory offers a number of unique and exciting performance opportunities, where students have the chance to demonstrate the artistic skills and talents they have gained throughout their time in the program. Musical Theater Conservatory students are provided with one-of-a-kind opportunities to meet, work with, and learn from renowned guest artists and alumni, university faculty, and industry leaders.
Each year, students in the Musical Theater Conservatory concentrate on musical theater vocal technique and acting. Middle school students experience a broad-based introduction to acting, musical theater, and performance technique in preparation for the high school program. High school students receive a challenging and innovative arts education similar to that of a collegiate arts program, supported by a comprehensive curriculum that balances performance and technique. Over the course of the 6-year program, students are also expected to enroll in jazz, tap, ballet, musical theater dance, or ballroom dance every year they are in residence in the Musical Theater Conservatory”.
— ocsarts.net —
Personal Experiences
During the six years she spent at OCSA, Naya studied with her twin sister Alexa, despite being from different conservatories (Lexi was also part of the Theater School, but enrolled at the Conservatory of Production & Design and not Musical Theater, like Naya) and also made dear friends like the Nicholson twins, Brian and Scott, from the Commercial Dance Conservatory and Courtney Reed and Bianca Lopéz, from her own class.
She also made many presentations in Annual Galas and school plays, being acknowledge by some performances as Dracula, Peter Pan, Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Cinderella and as her last graduation performance, Funny Girl. Naya received a pre-professional opportunity with Broadway, where she participated in A Snow White Christmas and 13: The Musical with Tinashe, directed by Jason Robert Brown.
When she passed the JYP Entertainment audition in 2011, her teachers, friends and director helped her finish the conservatory so she could graduate in advance and move to another country. Her performance as Fanny Brice was her final test.
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