SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The year 2006 marked the establishment of Whistling Woods International (WWI), one of the largest and best media institutes in India. WWI is Asia’s premier Film, Communication and Creative Arts Institute founded by one of India’s leading filmmakers, Mr. Subhash Ghai. It offers programmes that vary in duration from one year to four years catering to all major verticals of the media and entertainment industry.

As WWI grew, it launched the School of Music in 2015 with a vision to create a state-of-the-art institute that sets new standards of world-class education in the field of music production & composition. Its mission is to benchmark quality, inspire innovation, encourage creativity and mould professional yet artistic talents. It offers a three-year degree programme in Music Production & Composition.

The programme is unique, as it brings together the best practices of Indian music, western music, film culture and production technology with real-life opportunities to arrange, compose, perform, and produce music for industry standard projects. The graduates transition smoothly from being students to industry-ready professionals.

The faculty are all active working professionals and bring years of experience into the classrooms and studios. The ratio of faculty to students is favourable to individual mentoring and building positive relations and solidarity within the school. The vast network of WWI ensures that students will have ongoing support and resources available to them during their programme and as alumni well after graduation.

A Walk through the Campus

Located within Filmcity, Mumbai, WWI’s 5.5-acre campus comprises of high-end facilities that contribute towards nurturing the students’ professional and personal development. These amenities include – classrooms, auditorium, workshop rooms and studios – that are acoustically treated with projection and audio systems, acting/dancing/music/yoga studios, gymnasium, fashion – pattern making and cutting room, grooming and draping room, apparel construction room, VFX lab, edit labs, Dolby Digital film surround mix studio, cybercafé, and ATM amongst others.

In addition to this, the campus also comprises of advanced technical infrastructure which includes, a 250- seater auditorium with 4K 3D projection and Auro 11.1 sound, WWI JIO VR Lab, Sony Media Technology Centre, Red HD Digital Cinematography Cameras, 48 Track Recording Studio and Foxconn Media Lab to name a few.

The institute offers cutting-edge academia catering to various competencies including Filmmaking,

Media & Communication, Animation & Game Design, Music, Fashion Design, Visual Communication Design and Event Management. All the programmes are accredited by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Staying Ahead of the Curve

Indian music is popular across the globe. The unique programme at WWI School of Music features in-depth training in North and South Indian Music, Western Classical and Popular Music and exposure to some of the great musical cultures of the world. The students learn skills to be able to analyse any given piece of music and create musical compositions from a wide range of possible styles and traditions. The students learn to be able to freely create from brief references to fully realised finished productions.

Besides, a state-of-the-art campus and facilities, a favourable student to faculty ratio, a small tight community culture, opportunities for working on exciting projects, meeting iconic industry personalities and highly skilled dedicated faculty make WWI School of Music unique.

Walking an Extra Mile

Over the past 14 years, WWI has proactively prepared a niche for its alumni in several key media industry areas. WWI music graduates are working as music directors, composers/arrangers, engineers, singers, instrumentalists, DJ’s, lyricists and play a host of other music-related roles. The institute provides opportunities to students via its deep connections throughout the industry. The faculty members are always looking for ways to promote the students. The faculty believes that the graduates are the most effective ambassadors and goes the extra mile to ensure that students are well prepared to be industry-ready professionals.

Also, the campus is frequented by professionals from the industry for guest lectures, masterclasses, workshops, and practical sessions. The students have a unique opportunity to interact and impress their future employers while still learning from them. The calibre of WWI School of Music students ensures meaningful association with the industry.

A key major affiliation has been WWI’s partnership with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Asia’s oldest institute for professional social work education, to offer degree and diploma programmes in film, communication and creative arts, ensuring that the best film and media education is offered to its students. WWI started India’s first applied arts degree programme in Filmmaking, Acting, Screenwriting & Music – launched in association with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Some Glorious Affiliations and Recognitions

WWI has partnered with several global film, media and technology giants to set up four technology and innovation labs on campus:

1. a) Sony Media Technology Centre – 2010
2. b) Red Education Platform – 2015
3. c) Foxconn Media Lab – 2016
4. d) WWI Jio VR Lab – 2018

In 2010, WWI was accepted as a full member of CILECT (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision) – the world’s premier association of film and creative arts institutions. Moreover, central and state governments consult with WWI management for strategies on film, media, and entertainment education.

Secondly, The Hollywood Reporter has rated Whistling Woods International as one of the Ten Best Film Schools in the world. It has also been rated among the ‘Top Institutes of Influence’ globally, in 2015 by Forbes India.

Besides, the institute was also awarded Excellence in Creative & Performing Arts at the 6th FICCI Higher Education Excellence Awards 2019. Additionally, WWI School of Filmmaking, Department of Screenwriting, HOD, Anjum Rajabali has received the CILECT Teaching Award 2019 for his work at WWI for the past 14 years.

Creating Leaders and Professionals is the Aim

The vision of WWI School of Music has and will always be to create leaders and professionals in the field of music production and composition. It will continue to align itself with reputed institutes and organisations like CILECT, Google, Reliance, TISS, etc. and further its evolution by pushing the envelope of educational advancement through new programmes and their dissemination to the students. Its goal is to provide vocational training in music to students of smaller towns and cities all over the country and thanks to its partner, TISS, this will also continue to grow steadily. The aim is to take WWI School of Music to new heights and set new standards for world-class education in the field of music production and composition

A BRILLIANT COMPOSER AND LEADER

WWI launched its School of Music under the leadership of its HOD, Dr. Sangeeta Shankar. Dr. Sangeeta is a world-renowned violinist, highly acclaimed in the world of Indian classical and world music. She is the daughter and disciple of Padmabhushan Dr. Smt. N. Rajam. Having performed all around the globe, she is a brilliant composer and has various releases to her credit, including participation in a Grammy-nominated album.

A PhD and a gold medalist from BHU, she is a visionary educator and has immensely contributed to various educational projects. She is also the founder and managing director of the record label, Legendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd. It has been her vision to ensure an all-round solid training in music for aspiring students, to hone their skills and to make them capable of easily adapting to different musical genres.

Her futuristic vision is that in today’s times, everyone creates music with the latest available technology. If aspiring, young music composers are well-trained and strongly rooted in the fundamentals of music, reading and writing the language of music, then they would be in a much better position to tackle the challenges that come their way musically and also be able to produce and deliver a higher quality of music.

It is with this vision that she has envisioned the syllabus and training at WWI School of Music, making it a unique programme. Since 2009, she has been educating students to become composers, music directors, and producers at Whistling Woods International.

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