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SWARNABHOOMI ACADEMY OF MUSIC COMMENCES ITS FALL 2011 SESSION

Chennai, June 14, 2011: It is time to string a new string on your guitar, get your beats in rhythm and add a new tune to your life. Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM), the prestigious musical academy from the aegis of MARG is all set to announce their forthcoming Diploma Certificate Program. A 5 month program is commencing from August 8, 2011 and will end on December 16, 2011.

The learning experience:

SAM is a modern gurukula commune of learning, about 80 km from Chennai in Swarnabhoomi. SAM's 4 acre campus is located in beautiful lush green surroundings where the soul of rural India shines. The breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, an awe inspiring night sky and a magical quietude will be your backdrop for making creative music. In the centuries old traditional Indian gurukula system of learning for classical music, the student lives together with the teacher and acquires a much deeper educational experience that is as much learning about life as it is about music. Blending this concept with a modern western educational system of learning and driven by a uniquely designed curriculum that focuses on true multiculturalism in music, SAM is a quintessential global music school. 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.

The various modes of instruction for students include Private Lessons, Performance Labs, Ensembles, Ear Training, Class lectures, etc. To complement the above means of instruction, there will be recitals, jam sessions, concerts, media centre, library and several other fun musical activities.

SAM has a revolving set of top class professional musicians from several countries with expertise in every contemporary genre of music. A fully air-conditioned, Wi-Fi enable 29,000 sq.ft LEED Gold certified Green Building, uniquely shaped like a Grand Piano.

SAM has partnered with the world`s largest print music publisher Hal Leonard Publishing to bring quality books, DVDs and instruction material. Our top of the line gear includes Kawai Concert Grand, Upright and Digital Pianos, Mesa Boogie Lone Star, Mark V, Transatlantic and Express guitar amplifiers, Orange bass amplifiers, DW, PDP and Dixon drum kits, Sabian Cymbals and more.

The selection process involves interested candidates complete an online application on the website www.sam.org.in. The total Fees for the Diploma Certificate Program for the Indian students would be Rs. 3, 57,000/- per person and for the students abroad it will be 8000 USD.

PRASANNA (India) – Guitar, Carnatic music, PRESIDENT of SAM

"Prasanna's compositions convey a cosmopolitan harmonic language, rich with passing frictions"- New York Times.
"Prasanna plays guitar quite simply like nobody else on the planet" – Allabout Jazz

A pioneer in performing Carnatic music on the guitar and an internationally acclaimed guitarist in contemporary Jazz, Rock and Blues, Prasanna is the Founder and President of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music. Prasanna has recorded 15 albums as leader and several others as collaborator or sideman. He is a member of two groundbreaking Trios – "Tirtha" with Vijay Iyer and Nitin Mitta and "Raga Bop Trio" with Steve Smith and George Brooks. Prasanna has performed and recorded with Airto Moreira, A.R. Rahman, Joe Lovano, Illayaraja, Esperanza Spalding, Victor Wooten, Alex Acuna, Dave Douglas, Omar Hakim, Larry Coryell, Anthony Jackson, Howard Levy, Trilok Gurtu and others.

He has composed music for various films including the 2009 Oscar Award winning "Smile Pinki". His creative collaboration with two-time Oscar winning film composer A.R. Rahman includes arranging and orchestrating the title score for the 2002 Oscar nominated Bollywood Film "Lagaan" and numerous other guitar playing sessions. Prasanna`s web site is http://www.guitarprasanna.com/

FACULTY FOR FALL 2011 PROGRAM

The faculty for the upcoming program would be: Juancho Herrera for Guitars from Venezuela who lives in New York, Jane Getter for Guitars from New York, Dafnis Prieto for Drums born in Cuba who lives in New York, Ferenc Nemeth for Drums born in Hungary who lives in New York, Lara Bello for Voice from Spain and currently based in New York, Sofia Tosello from Cordoba, Argentina lives in New York for Voice, Carmen Staff for Piano/keyboard from New York, Victor Gould for Piano from Los Angeles, Derek Nievergelt for Bass from New York, Andres Rotmistrovsky for Bass from New York and Dr. S. Karthik on Indian Percussion from India.

ABOUT MARG

MARG Limited (BSE: 530543), incorporated in 1994 and headquartered in Chennai, is an infrastructure, real estate development and services company. The Company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and its shares are traded on the NSE under the category of "Permitted Security". The holistic regional development undertaken by the group is unlocking economic prosperity and creating inclusive & sustainable growth models. With over two decades of reassuring presence and the credit of pioneering the development of economic growth centers, MARG's portfolio spans across the entire infrastructure value chain - urban and industrial infrastructure, urban residential clusters, marine infrastructure & services, malls and EPC division. The group is expanding its sectored presence with airport projects in Bellary and Bijapur and Multi-level car park projects. Listed by Dun & Bradstreet among "India's Top 500 Companies 2010", today MARG Group has projects worth more than Rs. 5000 crores under execution, a seasoned human capital of more than 1000, global partners in the Infra space and offices spread across India, Singapore and China. The MARG CSR brand – MARG Parivarthan complements these business verticals. More information on MARG is available on http://www.marggroup.com

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 inspirational habitat based on the principles of "new urbanism" where Education, Research and Innovation will coexist in a stress free atmosphere.

GRK Reddy proudly calls MARG Swarnabhoomi 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 also partnered with Virginia Tech, the U.S. based university to setup a campus. Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) and MARG Navajyothi Vidyalaya are already operational. MARG Swarnabhoomi has been shortlisted by IGBC as a pilot project for "Platinum" rated city in India. This is a unique rating system by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and MARG Swarnabhoomi is privileged to get be IGBC's pilot project for the first Platinum rated city in India.