FOR U.S. MUSIC STUDENTS WITH THE OPENING OF ACM@UCO
THE FLAMING LIPS, LILY ALLEN & MORE TO TEACH MASTER CLASSES
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The Academy of Contemporary Music, a trailblazing music school, is set to create a new model for music education as it opens it first U.S. campus at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2009. The new school, known as the ACM@UCO, will provide unique educational opportunities and targeted, innovative classes for U.S. students who aspire to a career in the music industry.
Founded in 1995 in the U.K., the school has established a new paradigm for contemporary music education and, in the last year alone, has won a Queens Award for Innovation in Education and has seen recent graduates Newton Faulkner and Amelle Berrabah (Sugababes) release No. 1 albums in the U.K.
Scott Booker, manager of The Flaming Lips and CEO of the ACM@UCO, saw a need for the school in the U.S. He comments, “This is a music school that gets it. It has an understanding that students want to work in the music business that they hear on the radio and see on television. The music industry is a multi-million dollar business and there's no reason why there shouldn't be training for it. We need to open that door."
Connecting students directly to today's music industry, ACM@UCO's staff of teachers will include acclaimed performing artists and award-winning music professionals and will provide a new pool of talent for the U.S. music industry. Confirmed to offer master classes during the Academy's first year are Lily Allen producer and member of The Bird and the Bee, Greg Kurstin, and Warner Bros. Records General Manager and EVP of Warner Bros. Promotions Tom Biery, as well as Oklahomans The Flaming Lips, with additional classes and teachers to be announced later.
“Everyone knows there are huge changes going on," Booker continues. “The whole way the music business works is being reshaped. I believe our school will provide a future pool of talented artists, managers, booking agents and music marketers. There is no one else doing this kind of education with rock & roll."
ACM@UCO is currently accepting applications for the fall semester with a final application deadline of June 1, 2009. Classes will be held at the Oklahoma Warehouse Building off Flaming Lips Alley in Oklahoma City's historic Bricktown district.
As the state's oldest university, UCO leads the way for innovative higher learning, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees from its main campus in Edmond, OK.
