The Acaemy of Music was a music conservatory located in the United States. The academy was once considered one of the foremost music academies in the southeast, and the primary music academy in the state of North Carolina. Centrally located downtown in the metropolitan city of Raleigh, North Carolina, the Academy taught a number of University age students as well as advanced high school students.. Along with other famed conservatories such as The Juilliard School, The Jacobs School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, the Academy of Music had achieved some level of international prominence through its commitment to the highest standards of musical leadership and excellence. The school was established in 1899 by industrialist and philanthropist Charles Ray Wafer, founder of the American Tobacco Company.