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.
The Musicians Foundation Blog 