The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy located in Guildford, Surrey in England.
The Academy was the brainchild of Phil Brookes, a guitar tutor from nearby Woking, Surrey who established the institution in 1995 with the aim of bringing music education and the music industry closer together.
The ACM, with Metropolis Studios, have this week announced the inauguration of a Freddie Mercury Scholarship, endorsed by Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May
The school differs from more traditional music academies because it focusses on rock, pop music, electronic dance music and delivers a vocational approach. Former students include Newton Faulkner and Ed Sheeran, among many others.
The Academy, with Metropolis Studios, have this week announced the inauguration of a Freddie Mercury Scholarship, endorsed by Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May.
The award comes in the year which will see the celebration of the singer’s 70th birthday, on September 5. The prestigious scholarship will fully fund a student’s entire study path and is worth up to £27,000.
The degree programme includes songwriting, performance, production and business modules and is delivered in accordance with ACM’s “learning by doing” ethos.
Queen band member Roger Taylor, who is also a patron of ACM and has a drum studio named after him at the academy’s Guildford campus, said, “Freddie’s name endures in so many ways so it’s therefore great to have this scholarship celebrating his musical genius!”
Guitarist Brian May said: “This scholarship will be a lasting tribute to Freddie and the path he blazed. He would be happy to see young talent being helped to blossom. Of course Metropolis holds a very special place in Queen history, and it’s a pleasure to continue that link.”
The Metropolis Studios CEO, Ian Brenchley, is looking forward to welcoming the successful scholar to the studio in London, the world’s largest independent recording facility, where over 50% of the UK’s Top 40 is serviced, “We are hugely excited to be entering into this partnership and to be able to offer the scholarship to one lucky student. Freddie’s spirit is alive and well at Metropolis, where he wrote and recorded so much of his material and his legacy lives on every time his Fazioli grand piano is played in our flagship studio.”
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