Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
A CROSS-CULTURAL collaborative programme by OneBeat, an international music exchange platform is calling on African creatives to participate in its OneBeat Virtual 2022 initiative.
OneBeat Virtual is an initiative of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the groundbreaking New York-based music organisation Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.
Musicians and sonic artistes aged between 19 to 35 years from Algeria, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe are eligible to apply for the programme.
Interested personnel have been urged to apply on https://onebeatvirtual2022.fsn-apply.org/register before 11 February. Applicants will be notified by early May.
OneBeat Virtual 2022 will digitally convene 35 musicians from 50 eligible countries and territories. This fully virtual residency programme will take place from 11 July to 6 September. During this eight-week period, OneBeat fellows will investigate new forms of virtual collaboration, form ensembles to write, produce and perform genre-defying work, attend virtual masterclasses and open studios, lead online workshops, and produce a streaming concert for the public.
Fellows will receive a US$1 500 allowance and technical income for their online participation.
OneBeat Virtual offers a unique opportunity for fellows to incubate ideas for new forms of virtual collaboration that engage global communities.
Past participants have developed projects that foster diversity and inclusion, explore new technologies, broaden access to education, encourage economic empowerment, engage with issues like climate change, and build community resilience.
OneBeat is seeking applicants who excel in the following areas:
Musical excellence and innovation – A high level of performance, composition, improvisational, production and/or technological skill.
Social engagement – Musicians who have used music to serve their communities or greater societies, including guiding young people in music education, addressing socio-political issues, reviving dying traditions, etc.
Collaboration – Applicants’ willingness to reach across cultural and musical divides in creating original music or reinterpreting traditional music, while respecting the essence of each tradition. – @eMKlass_49
Online Reporter