OneBeat: From Florida to Chicago

This September, Bang on a Can and Found Sound Nation’s OneBeat, the world’s foremost residency celebrating music as social practice, returns for its fifth year, convening innovative musicians from every region of the world to the U.S. for one exhilarating month of performances, discussions, interactive music-making events, and more. OneBeat grew out of a notion that musical collaboration is a uniquely powerful way to connect people across political and cultural barriers, which can in turn cultivate an international network of sonic change-makers who make a powerful impact on their local and global communities.

This year OneBeat focuses on Musical Migrations, exploring how large movements of people have shaped music, and conversely, how music can encourage dialogue, community resilience, and rootedness in situations of displacement and upheaval.

OneBeat 2016’s tour traces the route of the Great Migration, honoring the global impact of African-American music by connecting with musical communities in the birthplace of Jazz (New Orleans), the home of Bessie Smith (Chattanooga), and a sweet home for blues, electronic music, and hip hop (Chicago). In each of these sites, OneBeat fellows will perform and record their brand-new works, produce videos, and lead generative workshops in collaboration with local community organizations.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.