Charlie Zhang was one of 17 million urban youth sent to work in the countryside during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, digging trenches and seeding soil in rice paddies.
What helped him through the forced labor was his passion for music. He played his clarinet in the fields at night for hours despite cold winds and mosquitoes, he said.
Several decades later, Zhang is on a mission to make sure Orange County children who share that same passion for music get a fair chance regardless of their upbringing. The 61-year-old Laguna Niguel millionaire, known for starting Pick Up Stix restaurants, recently founded OC Music and Dance, a nonprofit performing arts school in Irvine that offers music and dance training for children, regardless of their skill levels.
“When I was young, I didn’t have those opportunities in China,” Zhang said Monday, April 17, as he prepared for the school’s grand opening Saturday. “I spent energy and time seeking a career, but music in my blood has never dropped out. … It’s time to do something for our young generation, hand the baton to them.”
Zhang, a Pacific Symphony board member, bought an office building along MacArthur Boulevard near Red Hill Avenue in March 2016 for $8.2 million to house the Orange County orchestra’s headquarters. Because the 35,500-square-foot building was too big just for Pacific Symphony, he decided to start an arts school. The building renovation cost $2.5 million, Zhang said.
He tapped his friend and fellow Pacific Symphony board member Doug Freeman to help run the new school.
“I didn’t know he was approaching me; we had a nice quiet lunch and before lunch was over, my retirement was over,” said Freeman, a retired tax attorney who founded National Philanthropy Day, laughing. “I would never have abandoned my dream of retirement were it not for Charlie Zhang’s determination to do this right for our children. I had to be part of that.”
Zhang and Freeman offered their own money to establish the school’s endowment for scholarships.
“We wanted the children of Orange County to have access to the best facilities, the best teachers irrespective of their ability to pay for it,” Freeman said. “This place was built with Charlie’s dream to make the arts accessible. It’s my responsibility to make sure it’s not only accessible it’s sustainable.”
Zhang, who also runs a real estate and development company, said he’s spent 70 percent to 80 percent of his time on opening OC Music and Dance during the past year. He’s been involved in everything from the interior design to cleaning a water fountain every week.
He said he hopes the school will become a model for nonprofit arts schools around the country.
“We are not here to make money” Zhang said. “We are here to support the young generation, support the community grow music, art, dance. … It’s just a dream coming true.”