Enchong Dee and Joshua Garcia bring back Academy of Rock Philippines
Here’s a school that wants to make OPM even better
Enchong Dee and Joshua Garcia reopened Academy of Rock (AOR) Philippines last July 18, 2021 with a mission to give Filipinos the education and first steps toward achieving their music dreams. The actors are among the co-owners of relaunched music school.
Established by Priscilla Teo in 2007 in Singapore, AOR specializes in helping students when it comes to mastering musical instruments, vocal lessons, and the fundamentals and basics of pop music theory. In 2012, the academy first opened in the Philippines with a school located in Makati City. Sadly, after years of operating, the school closed its doors in 2016.
Enchong and his co-owners have been planning to bring the school back since 2019. But due to the pandemic, the relaunch has been moved to July 2021. Now with a different set of investors and owners, AOR Philippines functions with a new system, bringing the standard and teaching set by its Singaporean founders to the country.
“It’s been a dream to open up my own school,” Enchong posts on Instagram. “This is one of the few businesses that I will personally supervise to make sure that the quality of music education will be at par with our Singaporean counterpart.”
AOR Philippines offers its services to people of all ages, even to individuals with special needs. It has one-on-one sessions for more personalized mentoring and online class for distance music learning.
The Singaporean school is known for its orange branding that’s why adding it to the school’s interior design is just a natural step. Apart from the usual recording booths and music rooms, the school also houses a cafe, a performance area that can hold up to 150 individuals, and a multi-purpose room, which Enchong envisions to become a dance classroom in the future.
Together with Joshua and Enchong in leading the school are their fellow shareholders, visual artist Kristine Lim, business owners Benedict Mariategue and Jacinto Lee Gan Jr., and music producers Jonathan Manalo and Rox Santos.
“The benefits of music education are immense and highly beneficial to students,” says Rox. “Music positively impacts a child’s academic performance, assists in developing skills, and provides an outlet for creativity that is crucial to a child’s development.”
“Music education can help spark a person’s imagination and ignite a lifetime of passion, it provides infinite worlds to explore and challenges to tackle, the possibilities are endless,” Jonathan adds. “Music education not just feeds the brain but nurtures the heart and soul.”
AOR Philippines is located at Scout Borromeo in Quezon City. Visit its Instagram page to know more about its classes, rental fees, and other services.
Text by John Legaspi
This article first appeared on Manila Bulletin Lifestyle
Featured image source: Enchong Dee’s Instagram account
