Stow College

Stow College is Scotland's first Roland Music Academy

The Roland Music Academy was piloted in England two years ago, and thanks to Stow College has now made its way north of the border. The innovative partnership between the college and Roland UK will mean specialist training facilities and music equipment for students who want to widen their career opportunities in the music industry.

Derek Doyle, Section Leader of the college's Music and Creative Industries department, explained: "Roland is a world leader in the manufacturing of musical instruments, digital recording equipment and software for sound production. By pioneering the Roland Academy at Stow College we are ensuring that our students have access to the highest quality and state of the art facilities as well as making invaluable links in the music industry."

The Roland Academy curriculum will be embedded within the NC Sound Production course. The idea behind the Academy is that it familiarises students with the industry and increases their employability skills from the get-go. Students will be taught about career development, marketing and communications, how to manage your own employment and how to cope with the legal side of things.

Derek Doyle continued: "A huge benefit of embedding the Roland Academy into our NC Sound Production course is that, not only will students gain their SQA qualification upon completion of their studies, they will also receive an award from an international leader in the music industry. They will also have the opportunity to attend master-classes with experts from across the industry, which will help them to network and gain first-class knowledge."

With alumni such as Biffy Clyro, Stow College's Music and Creative Industries department is recognised throughout Scotland as a leader in its field. The college's ground-breaking record labels have also promoted and worked with acts such as Mylo, Belle and Sebastian and Snow Patrol.

For more information on Roland, visit www.roland.co.uk.