José Ochoa is the founding Executive Director of The Chicago High School for the Arts. Prior to moving to Chicago he was the Superintendent of Cultural Arts in Nashville, Tennessee, where he supervised the dance, music, theatre, and visual arts departments, two museums and the special events department. Besides his work in arts administration and in education, Ochoa has had a diverse career in the performing arts. As a musician, he has performed solo flute recitals including the Festival Internacional de Arte e Cultura de Suchitoto in Central America. In dance, he danced with several regional ballet companies and he was the choreographer for the official state play of Texas for three seasons. He has directed/choreographed for theatres throughout the Southeast and in Central America. Ochoa is a graduate of the North Carolina School for the Arts in music performance and has a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies-Dance, Music, Theatre, from West Texas A&M University. He served as an honorary trustee for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and he is a board of trustee for the National Guild of Community Schools for the Arts, Arts Alliance Illinois, and Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. In 2013, Ochoa was named to the 2013 class of Crain’s 40 Under 40 – a list of Chicagoans who have reached professional success and made significant civic contributions before turning 40.
