As part of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, which elevates music as a platform for promoting peace and democracy, the Department recently hosted the OneBeat Institute’s ‘Resilient Futures’ residency from October 27 to November 7. This year’s Institute brought together five teams of OneBeat alumni and their community partners from Iraq, Mexico, Nigeria, Türkiye, and Ukraine (by way of Portugal) for an intensive two-week exchange program in the United States. Through project-specific mentorship and strategic support, these creative leaders refined their vision, developed curricula, crafted business and multi-year plans —advancing their capacity to enrich the creative economies in their home countries.

Fellows, who included composers, curators, musicians, graffiti artists, and filmmakers- began their journey with a weeklong residency in upstate New York where they presented unique entrepreneurial music and civic projects, engaged in organizational and creative exercises, and met with guest artists and advisors. The program continued in New York City where fellows deepened their collaboration by engaging in peer-to-peer learning and receiving professional mentorship from U.S.-based leaders across business, arts, culture, technology, and education sectors.

Launched in 2012, OneBeat began as an annual U.S.-based residency and tour program, bringing together early-career musicians from around the world to collaboratively create, perform original music, and develop innovative strategies for arts-driven civic and social engagement. Over the past 12 years, Onebeat has expanded from a single annual residency into a dynamic array of year-round initiatives, including global residencies and tours, a virtual residency, an artist-industry incubation program, a podcast, and an alumni micro-grant accelerator program.