OneBeat is a project I’ve developed with Found Sound Nation colleagues Jeremy Thal and Elena Moon Park in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Bang on a Can. OneBeat embraces collaborative music creation as a form of cultural diplomacy. Now in its fourth year, OneBeat brings young musicians from around the world to the U.S. for one month to create and perform original music, incubate new ideas and projects, and develop ways that music can make a positive impact on our local and global communities.
Over the last three programs, we’ve brought together 82 people from 35 countries, performed for audiences across the US, and collaborated with students, organizers, and thinkers in schools and community groups across the globe. OneBeat℠ is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.
photography by Hannah Devereux