EXCITING FALL 2012 SEMESTER PROGRAM
AT
- Globally renowned Pianist and Composer Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater is a guest faculty at teh Fall 2012 program
- Strategic partnership with McNally Smith College of Music, Minnesota, USA to offer Bachelor degrees to continuing SAM 2 year Diploma students
- 10 International artists from 6 counties will be full time faculty for the program
Chennai July 28, 2012: Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) - the professional music college under the aegis of MARG Ltd, is all set to welcome the Fall 2012 batch of students for the Diploma certificate program. The one and two year diploma course is scheduled to commence on 22nd August 2012. SAM's recent partnership with the world renowned McNally Smith College of Music, USA enables interested students to transfer credits after graduation to pursue a degree program at the American college with scholarships. Interested applicants can register for the course at http://www.sam.org.in/admissions/application/
This Fall 2012, Swarnabhoomi Academy of  Music has roped in international star faculty from 6 countries that promise to deliver an exciting and enriching learning experience for the students. The line up of the international faculties includes American Keyboardist best known as member of progressive metal band 'Dream Theater' and progressive Rock supergroup ' Liquid Tension Experiment' , Pianist and Composer Jordan Rudess as guest faculty. In addition, the full time faculty includes Sofia Tosello (Argentina), Yuri Juarez (Peru), Deanna Witkowski (USA), Arthur Kell (USA), Karina Colis (Mexico), Fjoralba Turku (Albania), Juancho Herrera (Venezuela), Dario Boente (Argentina), Lonnie Plaxico (USA), Phil Maturano (USA), Prasanna (world renowned guitarist and composer) and Karthick (Internationally renowned Ghatam artist).
SAM recently signed an articulation agreement with  McNally Smith College of Music in Minnesota, USA. Through this arrangement, students pursuing a Two year diploma at SAM can effectively get a degree from McNally Smith College of Music. As per the understanding, after completing the diploma program from SAM, students can transfer upto 60 credits completed to the American institute. In addition to the diploma, this would enable students to obtain a Bachelor's degree after attending two years at McNally Smith.
Commenting on the exciting developments at SAM, GRK Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, MARG Group said, "In a short span of two years, SAM's achievements are remarkable. We have seen a transformation happening with 226 cumulative Diploma and Camp students from 6 countries, 46 faculty from 20 countries, an exchange partnership with McNally Smith College of Music and stellar support from top establishments in the music and education industry including Hal Leonard Publishing, Mesa Engineering, Kawai, Orange, Dixon, DW, Sabian, Meinl and other major players."
Top students from SAM are also eligible for a scholarship at McNally Smith. This will enable the students of SAM to get a degree from McNally Smith and a Diploma from SAM at a much lower cost than what a degree at McNally Smith would have otherwise cost him/her. The exchange programme will start from the Fall 2012 batch.
Prasanna, President, Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM), says "Our philosophy from day one has been to impart value based education through music and focus on giving our students the macro and micro skills essential for building careers in music. We believe that Music is about people, about communities, about shared communication that comes out of a willingness to address the human condition in all its glory and imperfection. At SAM we assemble a rotating faculty of some of the brightest and most diverse musical minds from around the world, put them all together and create a challenging and rewarding environment".
A measure of how much the college has become sought after in the international music world can be seen from the fact that Fall 2012 will witness students such as Conrad Reeves who just graduated with a degree from Oberlin Conservatory, America's oldest and one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world that was awarded a medal of honor by Barack Obama recently, Neal Goldberg who studied at Berklee College of Music, well known Tunisian drummer Ayman Boujlida who has a degree in music and musicology, Joel Thielman, an exchange student from McNally Smith, Maria Lucas from Argentina who is an exceptional singer alongside being a PhD candidate in Sustainable Housing Development at Putra university, a few other international students and many other amazing students from India.
Looking forward to yet another exciting music season at SAM, AP Ganeshram, CEO, MARG Swarnabhoomi and Education Services said, "SAM has been a successful institute in providing a collaborative exchange of ideas & thoughts through a modern gurukula style of imparting music. The unique rotational faculty concept maximizes the students' learning experience to make it as broad musically and culturally as possible. Diversity, creativity and discipline are foundations of the SAM curriculum".
SAM also have interesting collaborative partnerships coming up with Sao Paulo's Souza Lima Conservatory (http://www.souzalima.com.br/index.php?lang=en), one of the largest and most prestigious music colleges in Brazil and the exciting Indian International Arts Festival 2013 of which SAM will be a partner along with Allan Tweedie, a veteran music promoter from Scotland (http://www.melange.org.uk/pages/associates/alan.htm).
SAM's President and renowned guitarist Prasanna had debuted as a music director in the Tamil Film "Vazhakku Enn 18/9" with two heartrending songs which do not feature any instrument in the background but brilliantly underscore the poignant moments of the film.
Education is the fundamental building block of MARG Swarnabhoomi's ecosystem. For this purpose, infrastructure and association are being created to cater right from elementary to higher education. And the educational institutes collaborating from India and abroad will transform MARG Swarnabhoomi as the intellectual capital with thriving high-quality human resource.
MARG have recently joined hands with Central Institute of Technology, Australia to offer various vocational courses in India and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia, to offer innovative programmes on Games, Animation, Creative Multimedia, Advertising, Fashion & Hair Design, Interior Design, Product Design and Tourism Management etc.
About Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM)
Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music is a registered non-profit organization licensed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India under Section 25(3) of the Companies Act, 1956. The 4-acre college Campus is located in Marg Swarnabhoomi, 80 km from Chennai, India on the scenic East Coast Road. The 29,000-sq.ft main facility of the college is LEED Gold certified and is built in compliance with Green building standards.
Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music partners with educational institutions such as McNally Smith College of Music, USA, music publishing companies such as Hal Leonard Publishing, USA, equipment partners such as Mesa Boogie and Orange amplifiers, Kawai Pianos and Digital Pianos, Dixon, DW and PDP drums, Sabian and Meinl Cymbals.
At SAM, learning happens 24 hours. To find an impromptu Clave-meets-Carnatic or Samba-meets-Kopanitsa jam sessions on tables with knives, spoons and forks in our dining room at any time of the day is part of everyday life here. All students, staff and faculty live in the apartment complex next to the main campus and dine in our gourmet multi-cuisine facility. The access our students get every day in a focused environment for months together with our world class faculty in it makes it a transformational learning experience.
ABOUT MARG SWARNABHOOMI
MARG Swarnabhoomi, the flagship project of MARG is being developed as an inclusive and integrated new paradigm city based on the principles of new urbanism with unique offerings for education, research and innovation. This integrated city will house a R&D hub and an innovation led futuristic Science Park supported by an educational, commercial and residential framework. MARG Swarnabhoomi has been designed to be an aspirational habitat based on the principles of 'new urbanism' where Education, Research and Innovation will coexist in a stress free atmosphere.
Christened as the "Land of New Thinking" - the global city of education, research and innovation that brings together educational institutions, manufacturing & research companies, IT services firms, housing and healthcare facilities all under one roof. It has already roped in several companies including the likes of Grundfos India, Polyhose, Van Spall Associates, Virgo, Sumeet Machines and TVS Kwikpatch in the engineering category. Strand Bioprocesses and Micro Therapeutics Research labs have been tied up in the Research & Innovation domain. MARG Swarnabhoomi has been shortlisted as Indian Green Building Council's (IGBC) pilot project for the first Platinum rated city in India. |
