Deadline: February 9, 2018
The OneBeat 2018 application is NOW open! OneBeat is an international music exchange that celebrates musical collaboration and social engagement through innovative people-to-people diplomacy. OneBeat brings together emerging musical leaders from around the world to collaboratively create original work and to develop a global network of civically engaged music initiatives.
Musicians (ages 19-35) from around the world come together in the U.S. for four weeks to collaboratively write, produce, and perform original music, and develop ways that music can make a positive impact on our local and global communities. More than a performance program, OneBeat balances three principles: dialogue, creation, and social engagement to foster mutual understanding and cooperation among citizens of the world, one unexpected musical piece at a time.
Now in its seventh year, OneBeat is cultivating a pioneering 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.
Program Details
- Collaboration is central. 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.
- OneBeat is socially engaged. We are looking for musicians who have a strong commitment to their communities and who are seeking new ways to engage in youth development, music education, music therapy, conflict resolution, a global dialogue through music, and other ways of working towards more egalitarian and democratic societies.
- OneBeat is a FREE program (but not a paid gig). The OneBeat program covers all Fellows’ travel, transportation, food, and lodging. We also offer a modest stipend. While we are not able to pay performance fees, OneBeat offers Fellows a chance to create new material, establish lifelong musical partnerships and friendships, learn new marketable skills, tour the US, and develop professional connections.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be between 19 and 35 year old during the program dates (fall 2018).
- Musicians from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, with or without formal musical training.
- They welcome 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, they also invite adventurous musicians who double as community organizers, instrument builders, writers, videographers, musicologists, educators, storytellers, dancers, shadow-puppeteers, and more.
- Citizen and resident of one of the 40 eligible countries and territories listed below, and have not traveled extensively to the U.S. or have rarely performed in the U.S.;
- Musical Excellence – A high level of performance, composition, improvisational, production and/or technological skill. Ideally OneBeat musicians will be innovating stylistically, lyrically, or technologically within their musical worlds.
- Applicants must be willing to reach across cultural and musical divides in creating original music or re-interpreting traditional music, while respecting the essence of each tradition. Applicants should be prepared to try new things musically.
- Musicians who have used music to serve their communities or greater societies. This might consist of guiding young people in music education, addressing social or political issues through musical content, reviving dying musical traditions, and more.
- Applicants should be able to converse in and understand basic English, as it will be the common language of the OneBeat program.
- Whenever possible, OneBeat Fellows should actively use email and be able to connect to the internet to participate in OneBeat website-based activities.
Eligible Countries and Territories
Albania, Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe
Application
Applicants will be notified of the review panel decision by the end of May, 2018. If you have questions please contact [email protected].
Complete the online application now.
For more information, visit OneBeat Music Exchange.
