Call for participation: OneBeat 2016 fellowship

Among the African countries eligible are: Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. Musicians from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, with or without formal musical training. The OneBeat programme welcomes music of all genres, including but not limited to: traditional/folk, hip hop, experimental, electronic, jazz, classical, sound design, beat-making, multimedia art, or any combination of these styles. In additional to full-time professional musicians, the organizers also invite adventurous musicians who double as community organizers, instrument builders, writers, videographers, musicologists, educators, storytellers, dancers, shadow-puppeteers and more.

OneBeat offers musicians the opportunity to collaborate on new projects and to explore new musical traditions. Rather than showcasing solo talent, OneBeat musicians will work together across stylistic and cultural divides in pursuit of new musical possibilities. Now in its fifth year, OneBeat is cultivating a groundbreaking international network of leading artistic, technological, and social innovators in music. An initiative of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the groundbreaking New York-based music organization Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation, OneBeat employs collaborative original music as a potent new form of cultural diplomacy.

For a period of one month participants  from around the world will congregate in the U.S. during the 2016 fall to collaboratively write, produce, and perform original music, and develop strategies for arts-based social engagement. OneBeat begins with an opening residency, where fellows collaborate to create original material, record new musical ideas and incubate their projects.

OneBeat fellows then go on tour, performing for a wide array of American audiences, collaborating with local musicians and leading workshops with youth. In a closing residency, each OneBeat musician sets out their plans for the future, developing projects in their home countries linked to a mutually-reinforcing network of music-driven social enterprises. Among the African artists who took part in the 2015 edition are Senegalese Kora player Vieux Cissokho, Zimbabwe’s Tariro neGitare and Nigerian singer and producer Ibukun Emuwawon. To apply to the 2016 program visit the OneBeat website