EXCITING FALL 2012 SEMESTER PROGRAM AT SWARNABHOOMI ACADEMY OF MUSIC (SAM)
● Globally renowned Pianist and Composer Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater is a guest faculty at the 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 31, 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’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.