Los Angeles College of Music (LACM, formerly LAMA College for Music Professionals) is a
private for-profit music college
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
, in
Los Angeles County,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It has been accredited by the
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston ...
since 2003. More than 1000 students have graduated from the school, about half of them from outside the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
History
LACM was co-founded in 1996 as LA Music Academy by Tom Aylesbury, who also became President in 2004.
Original department Chairs included
Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale (; born 22 December 1958) is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released twenty albums over a period of three decades, and is known for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.
Recording career Solo ...
(guitar),
Dave Carpenter
Dave Carpenter (November 4, 1959 – June 24, 2008) was an American bass player. During his early professional career he played with jazz musicians Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman. During the late 1990s he was a touring member of t ...
(bass) and co-chairs
Joe Porcaro and Ralph Humphrey (drums).
The vocal department was established by
Kevyn Lettau in 1998.
Tierney Sutton took over as Chair in 2008. The school changed its name in November 2012 to LAMA College for Music Professionals, and in 2014 to Los Angeles College of Music.
Accreditation
The school has been accredited by the
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston ...
since 2003. It offers six-quarter
Associate of Arts degrees and
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
s in music performance (
drums,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
bass or
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
) and in
music production,
music composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...
and music industry. The associate degrees are classed as "professional" and are not transferable to other colleges or universities.
Summer courses
The school runs one-week summer music courses for children aged 10 or over, with workshops, lessons, clinics and concerts.
In partnership with DrumChannel and
Guitar Center
Guitar Center is an American Music store, musical instrument retailer chain. It is the largest company of its kind in the United States, with 294 locations. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California.
Guitar Center oversees various sub ...
, it also runs an intensive five-day course for drummers,
[ with clinics, music workshops, instruction, autograph sessions, a musicians' roundtable and a visit to ]Drum Workshop
Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is an American drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware.
History
Drum Workshop was founded ...
in Oxnard, CA. Instructors have included Alex Acuña
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian-American drummer and percussionist.
Background
Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Nec ...
, Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead.
Early life and education
Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...
, John "JR" Robinson, Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Perso ...
, Efrain Toro and Joe Porcaro.
Faculty
The faculty includes Gordon Goodwin
Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is an American pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. He has won four Grammy Awards and three Daytime Emmy Awards, and has received over twenty ...
, saxophone, arranging; Wayne Bergeron
Wayne Bergeron (born January 16, 1958) is an American jazz trumpeter.
Bergeron rose to prominence as a member of Maynard Ferguson's band in the 1980s. Since then, he has worked on over 400 TV and motion picture soundtracks. As a lead and studi ...
, trumpet; Tim Landers and Philip Bynoe
Philip Earl Bynoe is an American musician best known for his work with Steve Vai. He has been the bass player of Vai's touring band since 2012, a role he previously held from 1996 to 2000. He has also played on four of Vai's studio albums.
Other ...
, bass; David Joyce, Maxayn Lewis
Maxayn Lewis is an American soul singer, musician, songwriter, and producer. She began her career in the 1960s, under her birth name Paulette Parker, as member of the Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In the 1970s, Lewis sang lead in the ba ...
and Teresa James, voice, Andrew Murdock
Andrew Murdock (born January 24, 1962), also known as Mudrock, is an American record producer specializing in rock and metal genres. He is best known for producing Godsmack's ''Godsmack'' and '' Awake'' albums.
More recently, Murdock has prod ...
, music production; and Art Alexakis, songwriting.
Past faculty members at the school include Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale (; born 22 December 1958) is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released twenty albums over a period of three decades, and is known for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.
Recording career Solo ...
, Jean Marc Belkadi, Gary Hoey and Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue (born September 24, 1946, Manhattan, New York City) is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of t ...
, guitar; Sherman Ferguson, John Robinson, Joe Porcaro, Emil Richards
Emil Richards (born Emilio Joseph Radocchia; September 2, 1932 – December 13, 2019) was an American vibraphonist and percussionist.
Biography Musician
Richards began playing the xylophone aged six. In High School, he performed with the Hartf ...
, Italo Lamboglia, drums; Dave Carpenter
Dave Carpenter (November 4, 1959 – June 24, 2008) was an American bass player. During his early professional career he played with jazz musicians Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman. During the late 1990s he was a touring member of t ...
, Alphonso Johnson, Guy Erez
Guy Erez ( he, גיא ארז) is a Los Angeles-based songwriter/producer, composer and virtuoso bass player. Born and raised in Israel, Erez moved to Los Angeles in 1992. His songs have appeared in hit movies and TV shows including the soundtrac ...
and Bunny Brunel, bass; and Kevyn Lettau, Debi Nova and Tim "Ripper" Owens
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...
, vocal.
Master class instructors have included: Peter Bernstein, Dean Brown
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
and Mike Stern
Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, ...
, guitar; Patti Austin and Paulette McWilliams
Paulette McWilliams is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career singing with the bands The American Breed and Rufus, and has appeared as a backing vocalist on recordings and on tour for numerous artists. She worked with Marvin Ga ...
, voice; Janek Gwizdala and Alain Caron, bass. Artists in residence at the school have included Abe Laboriel
Abraham Laboriel López Sr. (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the f ...
, bass, and Airto Moreira, drums.[ Many notable musicians have performed clinics at the school.
]
Alumni
* Jean Dolabella
Jean Turrer Dolabella (born 14 May 1978) is a Brazilian drummer, multi-instrumentalist member of Ego Kill Talent. He is also a music producer and one of the founders of Family Mob Studios, where he teaches, promotes workshops and drum camps. In ...
* Debi Nova
* Tal Wilkenfeld
Tal Wilkenfeld (born 2 December 1986) is an Australian singer, songwriter, bassist, and guitarist. She has performed with artists including Jeff Beck, Prince, Incubus, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, and Mick Jagger. In 2008, Wilkenfeld was vot ...
* Mark Salling
Mark Wayne Salling (; August 17, 1982 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor and musician known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the television series '' Glee''.
Salling studied at the Los Angeles College of Music before wor ...
* Alex Feather Akimov
* Joseph E-Shine Mizrachi
Joseph "Yossi" Mizrachi ( he, יוסי מזרחי), better known by his stage name Joseph E-Shine, is an Israeli multi-instrumentalist and music producer. E-Shine is considered to be one of Israel's busiest artists in the past few years, and was ...
* Mayu Wakisaka
is a singer-songwriter, composer, and lyricist based in Tokyo, Japan. Mayu grew up in Osaka, Japan, and studied law at Kyoto University. In 2007, she quit law school to pursue her career as a singer-songwriter and moved to Los Angeles.
While st ...
* Jesse Krieger
* Meytal Cohen
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Los Angeles Music Academy College Of Music
Music schools in California
Educational institutions established in 1996
Education in Pasadena, California
Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California
For-profit universities and colleges in the United States
For-profit music schools in the United States
Private universities and colleges in California
1996 establishments in California