Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is swamped with many music schools. On the one hand, access to music learning has become easier, and both parents and prospective students can shop around, looking for places that suit their needs and meet their expectations. Even my boyfriend's close friend is soft-launching her new music school in a few months, in a fairly densely populated area where there are already four or five existing music schools.
On other hand, having too many music schools means growing disunity among artists, students, and teacher. How? Well if you think about, to be marketable, each school has to offer something that no other school does. In other words, it has to be unique and has to have an identity or certain prestige that appeals to consumers. Both uniqueness and prestige can be a good thing in and of themselves, but when music schools seek to distance themselves from each other, it would be harder for music students to get to know others outside their niche and for music teachers to work with other teachers from a different school without getting awkward look from their respective bosses.
It's frankly an unhealthy situation to be in. And the rising number of music schools in Jakarta does not necessarily mean that the collective quality of education in the region gets any better. We have very limited number of qualified teachers (good news for recent music graduates who are looking for jobs), and to fill in vacant positions, newer schools would have to hire even less qualified teachers. I remembered coming across a job posting by a recently opened music school near my area that sought teachers with a minimum of a master's degree. I wasn't particularly interested since I'm already juggling work between two schools. It wasn't until a few months later that the school changed its requirements and now accepts applicants with a bachelor's degree. As far as I know it is rare to have Indonesians to pursue a master's degree save a few financially stable pianists.
I also find it very interesting that the best music school in Indonesia so far is not in Jakarta, but in another city 260 miles away, in Yogyakarta. The school in question is the Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta), a state university that teaches not only performing arts, but also visual and media arts. Isn't it weird that Jakarta, the capital city and the wealthiest yuppy-laden city of Indonesia that has has 9 million people on a good day and 11 million on a really bad day (the extra two million are commuters who come from neighboring satellite cities) lose to Yogyakarta, that barely has 400 thousand people in terms of music education? Where is the justice in that?
Differences in culture and attitude towards life (and music!) play an important role in the quality of music education. As I am getting to know more and more musicians in Yogya, I realized the sense of family and collaboration is very strong, which I find surprisingly lacking back home in Jakarta. These people are very excited when they get the opportunity to play in a chamber setting, and create music together. This may sound corny, but to them, music feeds their soul. Not just any music, but truthful, honest, and good music. However, in Jakarta, this kind of attitude no longer holds. The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who lives in Yogya and occasionally performs gigs in Jakarta, and I asked him about his experiences playing in Jakarta. He told me how the music feels dishonest, and how everyone plays just for the paycheck. He even mentioned how a lot of musicians who play for professional orchestras in Jakarta are undergraduate students from the Institut Seni. I have a feeling that these orchestras hire these students because they see them as cheap (but competent!) labor.
A few days ago I was talking to my mentor, Asep Hidayat, an exceptional music educator and cellist and discussed with him about the capitalistic and opportunistic nature of Jakarta and how detrimental it is to music education. He said that our first priority is to protect the students from Jakarta's influence. He even disallows his first- up to third-year students from accepting gigs from Jakarta, and he is currently the only teacher at the Institut Seni who enforces such policy. He said that students have to first focus on their playing and on how to improve themselves musically and spiritually; worrying about making money should be given a low priority.
It is no surprise that Jakarta is becoming more and more individualistic. I see plenty of schools where they are named after the founder, like "Mr. X Conservatory of Music" or "Mrs. Y Music School", and sometimes I wonder if these schools are founded in the name of music education or as a vehicle to increase one's fame. Is modesty becoming overrated? Even my parents are adamant about setting up a music school for me with my name on the banner! I just don't see a clear and purposeful reason for the need to name the school like that; quality education rests on the teachers and curriculum, not on a single person.
Where is our semangat gotong-royong (spirit of mutual cooperation)? Why can't we build music education together? I hope it is not too late to fix the problem. I know plenty of others, friends and colleagues, who share the same opinion as me. I was thinking the other day about putting on a collaborative concert between two of my schools later in the year, or maybe next year. And I want us to play music. Not just any music, but truthful, honest, and good music.
Thanks for reading,
Hazim Suhadi
On other hand, having too many music schools means growing disunity among artists, students, and teacher. How? Well if you think about, to be marketable, each school has to offer something that no other school does. In other words, it has to be unique and has to have an identity or certain prestige that appeals to consumers. Both uniqueness and prestige can be a good thing in and of themselves, but when music schools seek to distance themselves from each other, it would be harder for music students to get to know others outside their niche and for music teachers to work with other teachers from a different school without getting awkward look from their respective bosses.
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| This is Jakarta (layoverguide.com) |
It's frankly an unhealthy situation to be in. And the rising number of music schools in Jakarta does not necessarily mean that the collective quality of education in the region gets any better. We have very limited number of qualified teachers (good news for recent music graduates who are looking for jobs), and to fill in vacant positions, newer schools would have to hire even less qualified teachers. I remembered coming across a job posting by a recently opened music school near my area that sought teachers with a minimum of a master's degree. I wasn't particularly interested since I'm already juggling work between two schools. It wasn't until a few months later that the school changed its requirements and now accepts applicants with a bachelor's degree. As far as I know it is rare to have Indonesians to pursue a master's degree save a few financially stable pianists.
I also find it very interesting that the best music school in Indonesia so far is not in Jakarta, but in another city 260 miles away, in Yogyakarta. The school in question is the Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta), a state university that teaches not only performing arts, but also visual and media arts. Isn't it weird that Jakarta, the capital city and the wealthiest yuppy-laden city of Indonesia that has has 9 million people on a good day and 11 million on a really bad day (the extra two million are commuters who come from neighboring satellite cities) lose to Yogyakarta, that barely has 400 thousand people in terms of music education? Where is the justice in that?
 |
| Entrance to the Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (laluhendribagus.blogspot.com) |
Differences in culture and attitude towards life (and music!) play an important role in the quality of music education. As I am getting to know more and more musicians in Yogya, I realized the sense of family and collaboration is very strong, which I find surprisingly lacking back home in Jakarta. These people are very excited when they get the opportunity to play in a chamber setting, and create music together. This may sound corny, but to them, music feeds their soul. Not just any music, but truthful, honest, and good music. However, in Jakarta, this kind of attitude no longer holds. The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who lives in Yogya and occasionally performs gigs in Jakarta, and I asked him about his experiences playing in Jakarta. He told me how the music feels dishonest, and how everyone plays just for the paycheck. He even mentioned how a lot of musicians who play for professional orchestras in Jakarta are undergraduate students from the Institut Seni. I have a feeling that these orchestras hire these students because they see them as cheap (but competent!) labor.
A few days ago I was talking to my mentor, Asep Hidayat, an exceptional music educator and cellist and discussed with him about the capitalistic and opportunistic nature of Jakarta and how detrimental it is to music education. He said that our first priority is to protect the students from Jakarta's influence. He even disallows his first- up to third-year students from accepting gigs from Jakarta, and he is currently the only teacher at the Institut Seni who enforces such policy. He said that students have to first focus on their playing and on how to improve themselves musically and spiritually; worrying about making money should be given a low priority.
 |
| The spirit of gotong royong of mutual cooperation in action (one-tour.yuman.fr) |
It is no surprise that Jakarta is becoming more and more individualistic. I see plenty of schools where they are named after the founder, like "Mr. X Conservatory of Music" or "Mrs. Y Music School", and sometimes I wonder if these schools are founded in the name of music education or as a vehicle to increase one's fame. Is modesty becoming overrated? Even my parents are adamant about setting up a music school for me with my name on the banner! I just don't see a clear and purposeful reason for the need to name the school like that; quality education rests on the teachers and curriculum, not on a single person.
Where is our semangat gotong-royong (spirit of mutual cooperation)? Why can't we build music education together? I hope it is not too late to fix the problem. I know plenty of others, friends and colleagues, who share the same opinion as me. I was thinking the other day about putting on a collaborative concert between two of my schools later in the year, or maybe next year. And I want us to play music. Not just any music, but truthful, honest, and good music.
Thanks for reading,
Hazim Suhadi
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