Press Releases

SWANRABHOOMI ACADEMY OF MUSIC (SAM) BRINGS INTERNATIONAL KEYBOARD WIZARD JORDAN RUDESS TO CHENNAI

~A never before bonanza for music lovers in India~

Chennai, Oct 15, 2012: Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) - the professional music college under the aegis of MARG Ltd, has drawn internationally celebrated musicians as faculties for its Fall 2012 program. Globally renowned Pianist and Composer Jordan Rudess from Dream Theatre would be the special guest faculty at SAM for an up-close, interactive music experience in a residential format during the week starting Oct 15,2012.

Further, Jordan Rudess and SAM's President & renowned guitarist Prasanna will host a two day workshop "Connecting the Dots" on 18th & 19th Oct 2012. The intimate Workshop will focus on Performance, Education, Technology and Entrepreneurship in Music. Jordan and Prasanna will teach and perform signature aspects of their music and will share powerful insights on their careers that have long integrated performance, technology, education and business through interactive sessions with participants.

Sharing his excitement on visiting India, Jordan has greeted the students and says "This fall I will be joining my good friend Prasanna and teaching there as a guest faculty member for the diploma program. So I am looking forward to see all of you at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music and all of you in India."

The power packed training session includes Pianist (Clinic) by Jordan Rudess, session with Prasana on Leveraging multi - culturalism in contemporary music, Jordan and Prasanna perform and discuss the art of improvisation, Technology as a driver in contemporary musicians' careers – Seminar by Jordan Rudess and Prasanna, Performance clinic on iphone and ipad – Jordan Rudess, Music of Dream Theater –Performance clinic by Jordan Rudess.

Welcoming Jordan Rudess to Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, GRK Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, MARG Group said, "We are happy to have the iconic Jordan Rudess at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music. Jordan has always been a passionate educator and his online conservatory has benefited thousands of musicians across the world. Jordan's decision to come to SAM campus as a guest faculty is an acknowledgement of the excellence in music education that Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music exemplifies."

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).

Earlier SAM has successfully conducted 10 similar workshops of 5 days each which was well attended by music enthusiasts across India. This two day workshop is open for all music lovers and is expected a participation of about 100 students.

Prasanna, President, Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM), says "We at SAM are excited to host Jordan Rudess as a part of the Fall 2012 program at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, as Special Guest Faculty in Residence. Jordan is not only a celebrity performer but also a passionate educator. When I met Jordan, we talked about music education and I was happy that he connected to SAM on a personal level. The SAM fraternity thank him for making time for a short teaching residency here, in spite of his worldwide touring and recording commitments as a solo artist, co-composer and keyboardist of Dream Theater. A classical pianist, a rock icon, a sound innovator and inventor – Jordan Rudess is a singular personality in contemporary music and SAM students are in for a treat!"

Jordan Rudess is in a league all his own today as the world's most recognizable progressive rock keyboardist, synthesist and developer of the biggest selling music applications for iPhone and iPad. Jordan's musical journey started with his enrollment at the world's most prestigious music college, Juilliard School of Music, for classical piano at the age of nine. His career path went on overdrive when he joined the band Dream Theater, which today stands among the biggest rock acts in the world, having sold millions of albums and packing big stadiums all over the world. Jordan's pre-eminent position as Keyboardist and Co-Composer for Dream Theater has made him a music industry icon whose work reaches millions of people.

SAM located at MARG Swarnabhoomi, offers an innovative, dynamic and challenging academic environment with a faculty of world class musicians to effectively guide towards realizing the musical dreams. The Fall 2012 program commenced on 22nd August 2012 with 42 students.

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.

Top students from SAM are also eligible for a scholarship at McNally Smith. This enables 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.

SAM is already gaining an enviable reputation in international music education circles for its outstanding music curriculum, programs and student experience. Spring 2013 program is all set to kick start in the month of January 2013.

MARG's education initiatives are aimed at MARG Swarnabhoomi EduCity emerging as an education cluster for a New Economy. Swarnabhoomi EduCity is a 100 acre campus that is nestled in the midst of nurturing intelligence, innovation and creativity. The mission is to create an international standard infrastructure with high standard teaching methodologies to inculcate an element of high creativity and innovation in education.

Recent international education alliances of MARG includes 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 aims to provide a challenging academic program in music that fosters a collaborative exchange of ideas and thoughts in a culturally rich environment exemplifying the notion of a global community. By blending the best of Indian traditional Gurukula based classical music pedagogy and contemporary western college education practice, the college seeks to not only provide a unique and rounded music education but also build character and personality in its students and prepare them for careers in music as performers, arrangers, songwriters, composers, producers, teachers and more.

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. 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.

About JORDAN RUDESS

Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes on November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.

He gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll after the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands who took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily as being a part time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.

During his time with the Dregs, Rudess formed a "power duo" with drummer Rod Morgenstein. The genesis of this pairing occurred when a power outage caused all of the Dregs' instruments to fail except Rudess', so he and Morgenstein improvised with each other until power was restored and the concert could continue. The chemistry between the two was so strong during this jam that they decided to perform together on a regular basis (under the name Rudess/Morgenstein Project or later RMP) and have since released a studio and a live record.

Rudess encountered Dream Theater once again when he and Morgenstein secured the support slot on one of Dream Theater's North American tours. In 1997, when Mike Portnoy was asked to form a supergroup by Magna Carta Records, Rudess was chosen to fill the keyboardist spot in the band, which also consisted of Tony Levin and Portnoy's Dream Theater colleague John Petrucci. During the recording of Liquid Tension Experiment's two albums, it became evident to Portnoy and Petrucci that Rudess was what Dream Theater needed. They asked Rudess to join the band, and when he accepted they released their then-keyboardist Derek Sherinian to make way for him.

Rudess has been the full-time keyboardist in Dream Theater since the recording of 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He has recorded six other studio albums with the group: 2002's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2003's Train of Thought, 2005's Octavarium, 2007's Systematic Chaos, 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings and 2011's A Dramatic Turn of Events. In addition, he has appeared on the live albums Live Scenes From New York, Live at Budokan, Score and Chaos in Motion.

In 2010, Rudess composed "Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra," his first classical composition. It was premiered in Venezuela on November 19, 2010 by the Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Eren Başbuğ.

On July 28, 2011, in a poll conducted by MusicRadar, Rudess was voted the best keyboardist of all time.

About PRASSANA

Prasanna is the quintessential Indian Renaissance man. A pioneer in performing Carnatic music on the guitar, an engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, a composer for an Oscar winning film, an internationally acclaimed guitarist in contemporary Jazz, Rock and Blues, a Magna-Cum-Laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, an entrepreneurial visionary in the business of creative music and education and Founder/ President of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music near Chennai which is the largest college of contemporary music in South Asia. Prasanna was voted among the 'top 50 creative Indians' by Open Magazine in 2010 alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Vishwanathan Anand, A.R.Rahman and others.

He was awarded the 'Life Time Achievement Awards' for Carnatic music by N.H.Sri Jayendra Saraswathi of Kanchi Mutt in 2006. Prasanna has performed and recorded with Airto Moreira, A.R. Rahman, Esperanza Spalding, Terry Lyne Carrington, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Aka Moon, Joe Lovano, Illayaraja, Victor Wooten, Alex Acuna, Omar Hakim, Trilok Gurtu and others. He is a member of two groundbreaking bands – 'Ragabop trio' with Steve Smith and George Brooks and 'Tirtha' with Vijay Iyer and Nitin Mitta.

Prasanna has composed music for three documentary films including the 2009 Oscar Award winning 'Smile Pinki' and three feature films including the highly acclaimed 2012 Tamil film 'Vazhakku Enn 18/9'. He orchestrated and conducted the string arrangements for A.R. Rahman's title score of the 2002 Oscar nominated Bollywood Film 'Lagaan'.

Prasanna has given lectures, talks, workshops and residencies at MIT's Sloan School of Management, Banff Center for the Arts, Berklee College of Music, Harvard University, Osnabruck Institute of Music etc.

Prasanna's web site is http://www.guitarprasanna.com