In addition to our month-long flagship program, OneBeat is a constellation of civically engaged music projects in production around the globe

OneBeat

Founded in 2012, OneBeat brings musicians (ages 19-35) from around the world to the U.S. for month-long residencies to collaboratively write, produce, and perform original music, and develop strategies for arts-based social engagement. OneBeat begins with an opening residency, when Fellows collaborate to create original material, record new musical ideas, and incubate their projects.

OneBeat routinely challenges Fellows to launch initiatives that address DOS policy priorities: promoting freedom of speech, advocating for democratic participation, demanding gender equality, building music economies, and creating spaces for youth to thrive. Time and again we’ve seen how our alumni are taking the lessons of OneBeat, and building on the connections they made during the programs, as they redefine what it means to be a socially engaged musician in the 21st century.

To date, OneBeat has visited 44 U.S. cities in 21 states, while Alumni have raised over $1.9 million dollars to fund inventive new projects that address major issues facing communities around the world, including women’s empowerment, youth engagement, digital literacy, entrepreneurship, conflict resolution, and many others. Working with U.S. Embassies, alumni and major cultural institutions in more than 40 countries, OneBeat artist-entrepreneurs are launching projects large and small in every region of the world, becoming leaders in their communities, and guiding new generations of creative thinkers. By bringing people into creative, participatory, and open-minded social structures, OneBeat programs create a healthy social climate that in turn discourages the rise of divisiveness and extremism. We are honored to partner with the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs to continue to produce these programs – truly unique music exchanges in terms of the depth of their authenticity, the tenacity of the creative output, and their ability to create lasting bonds.