Academy of Contemporary Music

The Academy of Contemporary Music
Rodboro Buildings Campus
Location
Guildford, Surrey England
Information
Type	Music School
Motto	World Leaders in Music Industry Education[1]
Established	1997[2]
Website	http://www.acm.ac.uk/

The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy in with campuses in Guildford, Surrey, Birmingham, and London, England providing contemporary music-based courses.

The school of music has a focus on rock, pop music, electronic dance music and a vocational approach. The school has links with Guildford's Electric Theatre, Guildford College, Middlesex University, Metropolis Studios, and University of Surrey.

History

The Academy of Contemporary Music was created by guitar tutor Phil Brookes^[3] and Peter Anderton of Andertons Music Co.^[4] In the 2000s, the academy partnered with three educational establishments for awarding qualifications: Guildford College which grants BTEC/Edexcel awards for the lower discipline, Middlesex University and the University of Surrey. The latter validate the Certificate in Higher Education for the intermediate discipline, award degrees at BA (Hons) and BMus (Hons) through to an MA (Masters) in contemporary music in partnership with ACM.

In August 2013, ownership of ACM was acquired by Kainne Clements, who also co-owns Metropolis Studios.^[5]

Awards

In May 2008, ACM was awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation (Technology).^[6] In late 2009, with support from the University of Central Oklahoma, ACM opened a base outside of the UK in Downtown Oklahoma City, appointing Scott Booker as executive director.

Previous students

Alumni / former students of ACM (including academic music courses in which vocational placements were made with ACM) include:

• Newton Faulkner, guitarist/singer/songwriter whose album Hand Built By Robots went to number one in the UK Albums Chart.
• Amelle Berrabah, member of The Sugababes.^[3][7]
• Ben King, lead guitarist with The Yardbirds.^[7]
• Guy Davis, of rock group Reuben.
• Matty Healy, singer-songwriter of band the 1975, Ivor Novello and Brit Award winner, and two-time Grammy nominee^[8]
• Ed Sheeran, singer-songwriter, Ivor Novello, Brit Award and Grammy winner^[9]
• Zomboy, dubstep producer
• Ryan Fletcher and Joel Peat of the band Lawson
• Molly Smitten-Downes, singer-songwriter and the United Kingdom's Eurovision Song Contest 2014 entry
• Dominic Lyne, author
• Rabea Massaad, guitarist (Dorje and Toska)
• George Berry, drummer and record producer, Bears in Trees
• Jan-Vincent Velazco, member of Pendragon
• Jamie Irrepressible (founding member) The Irrepressibles
• Nicol River, director of River Music School London^[10]
• Theo Lucas, singer-songwriter, represented Cyprus at The Commonwealth in 2023^[11][12][13]

References

1. "ACM Website: Home Page". Archived from the original on 16 April 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
2. "ACM Website: About Us Page". Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
3. Tim Edwards (23 March 2006). "The Independent: Contemporary music academies give stars of future a chance to be heard". Archived from the original on 21 April 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
4. "The Captain Meets His Dad - The History Of Andertons Music Co". YouTube.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
5. "ACM Partner With Metropolis". Musictech.net. 26 September 2013.
6. Queen's Award - Innovation Archived 2012-03-06 at the Wayback Machine at Business Link
7. "ACM Website: Students Into Industry". Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
8. "Matt Healy (The 1975)". ACM. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
9. Nightingale, Laura (26 February 2023). "The Surrey music school Ed Sheeran went to before he was famous". Surrey Live. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
10. "Nicol R". River Music School.
11. "Theo Lucas - Imagine (Commonwealth Fair 2023 - Cyprus Entry)". YouTube. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
12. "Federation President attends 'A Service of Celebration for Commonwealth Day' at Westminster Abbey". Cypriot Federation. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
13. "Theo Lucas: ο Κύπριος που συγκίνησε τραγουδώντας μπροστά σε 56 χώρες στο Λονδίνο – Έγραψε τραγούδι για το '74 αφιερωμένο στη γιαγιά του (Βίντεο)" (in Greek). Omega Live. 2024. Retrieved 6 December 2024.

External links

• The Academy of Contemporary Music website

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