Dwiki Dharmawan Prepares Farabi for Music Universities

JAKARTA - It has been more than two decades since Dwiki Dharmawan led the Farabi Music Education Center as one of the superior music courses in Jakarta.

But the 59-year-old musician has big ambitions. He wants to raise Farabi's status to a high school or music institute to equal the quality of its graduates with global standards.

This step was taken following a strategic cooperation with the Australian Institute of Music (AIM). Dwiki explained, currently Farabi has a sandwich program that allows students to continue their studies directly to the next semester in Australia.

"Last year was only a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Australian Institute of Music, we are again a MoU sandwich program, where Farabi students can directly enter, for example in the second semester at AIM, or in the third semester even four," said Dwiki, quoting the latest episode of HOME on the Dewa Budjana YouTube channel, Monday, January 19.

"Just because the strata in us is still a course institution, but there is a university institution, I also have to try in the future that Farabi can become a university strata," he continued.

This work is obviously not easy, given the tight regulations in place. However, Dwiki believes that he will find a way to bring Farabi not just a music course institution, but a music college.

"It's not easy, because the Ministry of Education is on a moratorium to accept new licenses. So, we might have to try to get a license from a university that may have gone bankrupt or can't survive. We buy the license, then we change it into a music college," he said.

Not only active in the recording studio and the music stage, Dwiki is consistent in the world of education. For him, Farabi is not just a music course business, but a regeneration container for Indonesian musicians.

Dwiki noted an interesting shift in today's younger generation. He assessed that young musicians have much more capable techniques and a strong "producer's soul" from an early age. This is inseparable from the wide access to information through digital platforms.