SPRING 2023 MELODIC SOLOING GUITAR SCHOLARSHIP AT MUSICIANS INSTITUTE WINNER: Alessio Ammendola

Alessio Ammendola

Musicians Institute and The Musicians Foundation are pleased to announce that Alessio Ammendola is the recipient of the Spring 2023 Melodic Soloing Guitar Scholarship.

Alessio Ammendola comes to MI’s Guitar Program from Italy with 10 years of playing experience and in possession of solid melodic soloing skills in a variety of genres and a specialization in a multiplicity of Rock music styles. During the last six years, he’s also worked as a professional musician playing in different musical contexts, with a lot of playing in musicals for theaters.

During his studies, he will focus on “Developing more of a great and tight mindset and how to take advantage of my music tools, putting them all together to settle myself into the international music business. At MI you can learn not only how to fully master and control your instrument, but also how to move and most importantly, how to behave to be able to find your own path as a musician.”

When asked why he chose to study at MI, Alessio added “I came to MI because its guitar department is (without any doubt) the best that a guitarist can find. I wanted a new challenge for myself and see what kind of new level I will reach.  There are great instructors and people to genuinely compete with. I think that the choice of a great institute should be led by one simple reason: what we want to achieve; and when you have that answer in your mind, MI is where to start.”

Asked what the winning this scholarship award means to him, Alessio shared “The Melodic Soloing Guitar Scholarship means a lot to me because it’s a reward for my years of sacrifice spent improving my musicality and technique. We’re always led by a great passion for music but at a certain point of our journey, we need to accomplish something to feel that we’re moving in the right way, with the right pace and we shouldn’t stop. This scholarship is the perfect representation of this state of mind and when something that we have in our head comes to life, it’s always a great thing to be proud of.”

He describes his professional goals and aspirations as follows: “For the future I see myself in the international music business. As a guitarist, working for some Pop Artist or for some important musical theater companies. I will have a lot of time to develop my solo career and I would love to work with other artists, to be a sort of “X factor” for an artist or a music director.  But there’s no big dream without big and hard work, and that’s what I’m ready for.”

Everyone at MI congratulates Alessio on winning this very prestigious scholarship award!

Special thanks to an anonymous MI Guitar Program alumnus (GIT class of 1980) for generously sponsoring this scholarship, which helps to provide talented students like Alessio with the support, tools and recognition they need to launch successful careers in the music industry.

To learn more about the MI Alumni Community click HERE 

2023 D’ADDARIO FOUNDATION WOMEN IN GUITAR SCHOLARSHIP AT MUSICIANS INSTITUTE WINNER: Yu-Hsuan Jen

Yu-Hsuan Jen

Talented guitarist Yu-Hsuan Jen has been named as winner of the 2023 D’Addario Foundation Women in Guitar Scholarship. She comes to Musicians Institute from Taiwan with 7 years of playing experience and a specialization in funk guitar styles.

As a current MI Guitar Program student, Yu-Hsuan has focused her studies on “Being able to communicate with many great musicians, learn different styles and become a competent musician.”

When asked why she chose to study at MI, she added “There are some very talented guitarists in Taiwan who graduated from MI, so I know that this is a very systematic school where I can learn and study many different styles of music and improve my guitar playing.”  

She added, “This scholarship means a lot to me because I am not confident in my own playing, I’m a SUPER UNCONFIDENT person! I am very grateful to the school for this affirmation, I will work harder to improve and become a better guitarist.”

Yu-Hsuan sees her MI education as an important key to achieving her goals “Continuing to learn, improve my solo/improvisation ability and become a stable guitarist who can play a variety of styles, and become a REAL MUSICIAN!”

Everyone at Musicians Institute congratulates Yu-Hsuan on winning this very prestigious award!

Special thanks to our longtime industry partner, D’Addario and The D’Addario Music Foundation for  generously sponsoring this scholarship as a part of its ongoing  Music Education for Girls Initiative, which helps to provide talented students like Yu-Hsuan with the support, tools and recognition they need to launch successful and creative careers in the music industry.

To learn more about the full line of D’Addario products click here: http://www.daddario.com

2023 N.W. DIBLE FOUNDATION SONGWRITING SCHOLARSHIP AT MUSICIANS INSTITUTE WINNER: Luo’er Li

Luo’er Li

The winner of the third annual N.W. Dible Foundation Songwriting Scholarship at Musicians Institute is the multi-talented Bachelor’s Degree student Luo’er Li.

The current Bachelor of Music in Songwriting and Production program student is a lifelong musician who comes to MI by way of Beijing, China.  Luo’er  started studying classical piano at age 4, and producing music at age 16. He shared that “I started out by producing electronic music, and now I try to create anything that sounds unique, original and different from others.”

When asked why he chose to study at MI, he added “MI provides the best educational resources, and the location in LA is the best for modern music development and getting involved with the local music industry as I study. This lays the foundation for my future career and creates a perfect life style for me.”

Upon learning about his scholarship award, he shared “This scholarship means a lot to me. It represents an academic honor and an approval of my hard work, and motivates me to excel and pursue more academic and personal achievements. It also helps me to save money to invest in my music career.”

As he continues his studies, he plans to maintain his focus on “Getting a holistic view of music and the music industry. I think basic theory learned from class will help me get through future bottlenecks for my career. More importantly, I can learn other classmates’ perspectives to broaden my vision.”

After MI, Luo’er’s primary career aspirations are to: “Create high-quality music with my own characteristics that is not limited to specific genres. I hope my music will be popular one day, so that people pay attention to the inner significance of the song and the merit of the composer.”

Everyone at Musicians Institute congratulates Luo’er on this achievement, and we look forward to seeing him reach his full potential while at MI.

Special thanks to the N.W. Dible Foundation for generously sponsoring this scholarship, which helps to provide talented students like Luo’er with the support, tools and recognition they need to launch successful and creative careers in the music industry.

The N.W. Dible Foundation aims to promote and support communities, organizations, and individuals involved in literary and creative arts activities. Among its guiding principles are education, creative achievement, cultural diversity and inclusion. The Foundation also supports health and the environmental sciences

SPRING 2023 HOSA TECHNOLOGY AUDIO ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIP AT MUSICIANS INSTITUTE WINNER: KESTON MACK

The Audio Engineering Program at Musicians Institute is pleased to announce Keston Mack as the winner of the ninth annual Hosa Technology Audio Engineering Scholarship at MI.  

In winning this award, the West Philadelphia native convincingly and clearly articulated his career goals in his scholarship essay submission.  Keston comes to MI with three years of audio engineering experience and also a strong interest in creating soundtracks for his own short film(s) that utilize his own vocals for singing/rapping.

When asked “what do you hope to learn while studying in the Audio Engineering Program at MI”, Keston shared that “I expect to learn how to work in a professional environment with all the know-how, for bringing my ideas to life through audio effects, and how to engineer my own Hip-Hop, RnB and guitar albums”. 

Regarding his future career goals and aspirations, he added, “My dreams and goals are to work with Damlin, Pixar’s Universal Music Group, and Disney. As well, one of my biggest aspirations is to bring forth new ideas to hip-hop fusing it with metal. While audio is my thing,  I’ve also been practicing guitar for several years and would like to do that professionally.  

Everyone at MI congratulates Keston on winning this prestigious award, as he pursues his audio engineering studies and enjoys the many great experiences ahead at MI!

Special thanks to our industry partner, Hosa Technology for generously sponsoring this scholarship, which helps to provide students like Keston with the support, tools and recognition they need to launch successful and creative careers in the music industry.

2023 SCOTT BENNETT MEMORIAL GUITAR SCHOLARSHIP AT MUSICIANS INSTITUTE WINNER: Eric Jonathan Cahyadi

 Eric Jonathan Cahyadi

Versatile guitarist Eric Jonathan Cahyadi has been named as the winner of the second annual Scott Bennett Memorial Guitar Scholarship at Musicians Institute. Eric comes to MI from Jakarta, Indonesia, having played guitar for 6 years in various genres including acoustic fingerstyle, R&B, pop rock, country, and gospel music.

As a current AA Degree student, Eric decided to attend MI’s Guitar Program because “I hope to build a solid foundation for my music knowledge and technique while studying at MI so I can continue to flourish in the future.  I chose to study at MI for a lot of reasons; one of which is the amazing faculty, where the instructors are active musicians who do session/touring work and can give insight into working in the music industry. Given that MI is in the heart of Los Angeles, building relationships with musicians both inside and outside of MI is also a huge reason for why I chose MI. Also, MI offers a very wide range of stylistic freedom that not many other schools offer. I’m able to freely dive into genres that I personally love and enjoy playing.”

When asked what winning the scholarship meant to him, he shared that “This scholarship means the world to me; like a stamp of approval that tells me,  ‘Yes, I am on the right track’ and it pushes me to further continue to work harder than ever, like there’s no tomorrow.”

Eric sees his education as an important key to achieving his career goals, which include “My dreams are to work professionally both in the United States and Indonesia as a musician, to have a full-time career in a job that I love and to hopefully inspire and bless people with the music I make. I try to live by the quote: “Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

Everyone at MI congratulates Eric on winning this very prestigious award!

Special thanks to the family and friends of MI (GIT) alumnus Scott Bennett for generously sponsoring this memorial scholarship in his honor, which helps to provide talented students like Eric with the support, tools and recognition they need to launch successful and creative careers in the music industry.

Scott Bennett