OneBeat consists of a two week residency, when Fellows create original material and develop workshop ideas to engage local communities, and a two-week Tour, when Fellows give performances, collaborate with local musicians and lead workshops with youth and communities groups. OneBeat Fellows work with a diverse group of expert Collaborating Artists—including luminaries of classical music, hip-hop, jazz and more—to develop and deepen the scope of their collaborative work.

In 2012, 32 musicians (ages 19-35) from 21 countries gave 17 public performances for more than 3000 people, conducted a dozen workshops for more than 1000 participants, and appeared in 500 photos, 75 original short films and dozens of recorded tracks. In the fall of 2013, 25 musicians from around the world will 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.

2013 Fellows:

• Burma - Mr. Parami Shyon is a classically trained pianist based in Myanmar. As an educator, Parami has led numerous workshops and performances with the Gitameit Music Center.
• Cambodia - Mr. Young Yorn is a composer, singer, and musician who plays traditional Khmer music. Born in Kampong Thom, in the middle of Cambodia, Young has been working with arts in Cambodia for more than ten years.
• China - Ms. Yang Fan is a Beijing-based musician, composer and producer. At the age of 15, Yang Fan started her first band, called Hang on The Box, the first ever all-girl punk band to come out of China.
• Czech Republic - Ms. Lucie Pachova raised on Central European folk music, Lucie Páchová’s music draws from varied musical backgrounds, including contemporary classical music, jazz, Balkan music, experimental and electronic music, and free improvisation.
• Egypt - Mr. Ahmed Rock was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. He is a member of Revolution Records and one of the pioneers of the Egyptian hip-hop scene.
• India - Ms. Malabika Brahma is a vocalist and composer based in India. Her music is a fusion of folk, blues and Indian classical music, influenced by Vedic Hinduism and Baul mystic minstrel tradition.
• India - Mr. Darbuka Siva is a self-taught drummer, percussionist and bassist based in India. Beginning drums at the age of 17, Siva was quickly drawn to latin and world percussion like the darbuka, djembe and cajon.
• Israel - Ms. Ruth Lea Danon is a singer-songwriter and flutist based in Israel. Ruth began performing and singing at a young age, though she admits, “It took years of formal music study for me to muster the courage to compose and arrange my own songs.”
• Israel - Mr. George Kandalaft is an oud player specializing in lyrical improvisations in a traditional style. He was born in Nazareth. At the age of 10, he started playing the oud, and later joined his first band at the age of 14. Two years later, he began to take part in a project that aimed to play music for peace.
• Kenya - Ms. Kasiva Mutua is an internationally touring drummer and percussionist based in a Nairobi, Kenya. Her exuberant performances reflect a panoply of influences, including afrobeat, zouk, samba, reggae and soul.
• Kenya - Mr. Bill Sellanga (aka Blinky Bill) is a singer-songwriter, beat maker, producer, and one fourth of Kenyan art and music collective, Just a Band.
• Lebanon - Ms. Elyse Tabet is an audio-visual artist based in Beirut, Lebanon. Recording as Litter, Elyse makes pulsing ambient music that is both placid and disquieting.
• Lebanon - Ms. Dima El Sayed is a poet and singer based in Lebanon. Her soulful voice and impassioned songwriting is informed by raga, Sufi Mystic tradition, and her practice as poet of three languages.
• Nigeria - Mr. Biodun Kuti grabbed the guitar at the early age of fifteen and started playing in churches, his father’s band, and other local bands in Lagos, Nigeria. Descended from an ancestral lineage of Yoruba musicians, Biodun’s childhood was bound with Juju, Highlife and traditional drumming.
• Russia - Mr. Dmitri Burmistrov "Masta Mic" also known as Masta Mic, is a musician, producer, multi-vocalist and internationally recognized beatboxer based in Russia.
• Senegal - Toussa Astou Gueye, who performs under the artist name Toussa, was born in Dakar, Senegal. From a young age, she loved hip-hop music and enjoyed listening to both international pop music and the poetry of West African women called Taasu.
• South Africa - Mr. Mpumelelo Mcata (Mpumi) is a member of one of the most innovative bands South Africa has seen this generation, BLK JKS.
• South Korea - Ms. Jiha Park is a composer and performer of traditional Korean instruments, such as Piri, Taepyungso, Saenghwang and Yanggeum.
• USA (CA) - Mr. Daniel French performs primarily with a 7-member band called Las Cafeteras, which plays a mixture of Son Jarocho (Afro-Mexican), cumbia, ska, hip hop, Native American sounds, and some U.S. folk sounds. The band, which has recorded two albums, has been featured on NPR, KCRW (LA), and the LA Times, and tours occasionally, recently at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
• USA (LA) - Ms. Aurora Nealand eventually landed in New Orleans, where for the past 8 years, she has been playing Traditional New Orleans jazz and diving into the rich musical culture of the city. Today, she is a band leader and contributing member to a number of performing groups, as a saxophonist, singer, composer, and improviser.
• USA (NY) - Mr. Greg Chudzik a prolific performer and recording artist, Greg has played alongside esteemed musicians in the jazz, classical, experimental, and indie rock worlds and contributed to releases on 4AD, New Amsterdam, Tzadik and Jagjaguwar.
• USA (NY) - Ms. Sarah Alden is a fiddler, singer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. Her music is influenced by her experience working in a myriad of styles, including folk traditions from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, American Appalachian fiddle styles, as well as bluegrass, jazz and classical music.
• USA (NY) - YC the Cynic born in the poorest congressional district in the country, Matthew Jefferson (aka YC The Cynic) has become a torchbearer for progressive hip-hop music. Known for his quick-witted lyricism, YC has been on a mission to revitalize the birthplace of hip-hop culture.
• Venezuela - Mr. Manuel Alejandro Rangel is an internationally acclaimed maracas player from Venezuela.
• Venezuela - Mr. Omar Amado is a percussionist and drummer from Caracas, Venezuela. He is the manager and musical producer of Tambores Mestizo, a group that fuses elements of electronic music with Afro-Venezuelan drums.