OneBeat Returns to Albuquerque With 25 Musical Artists From 19 Countries for a One-Day Festival
October 27, 2022 - 516 ARTS, Albuquerque’s contemporary art museum, is teaming up with Found Sound Nation and the City of Albuquerque Arts & Culture Department to present OneBeat X, a one-day festival of global music and art at the Albuquerque Rail Yards on Saturday, November 5, 2022 from 3 to 8 p.m. It is the culmination of a New Mexico residency for the unique music diplomacy program, OneBeat, which brings accomplished young musicians from around the world to the U.S. to collaboratively compose, produce, and perform original music, and develop strategies for social engagement through music.
Get tickets here.
The upcoming event harkens back to the phenomenal music and art event that 516 ARTS presented at the Albuquerque Rail Yards in 2014. The upcoming festival includes visual art installations, interactive music, food trucks, beer from Tractor Brewing, and more. The lineup of live performances by OneBeat fellows and guest artists includes the celebrated Pan-Latin American powerhouse group LADAMA, percussion ensemble Tigue, and a special collaboration between Nigerian guitarist Biodun Kuti and acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart.
Over the last 10 years, OneBeat has grown from a single US-based residency and musical exchange, to a constellation of programs and initiatives that span 50 countries worldwide. A few of this year’s stand-out returning residents include Ghanaian poet and spoken word artist, Poetra Asantewa; Kenyan DJ, producer and songwriter, Blinky Bill; award-winning Colombian percussionist, Jenn del Tambó; Warsaw-based composer and multi-instrumentalist, Piotr Kurek; and improvisational gayageum-player, Kyungso Park. Learn more about OneBeat Fellows here.
The OneBeat X festival includes a visual art exhibition, organized by 516 ARTS’ Curator Rachelle Pablo (Diné), titled Intra-Relating, featuring a selection of visual artists who are engaging the expansive space of the Albuquerque Railyards Blacksmith Shop. Their installations address themes of interconnectivity among all life on a global scale, spanning humans, more-than-humans, land, water, and sustainability. Artists include visiting OneBeatartists Xuan and Chris Williams, along with New Mexico artists Ellen Babcock, Dante Biss-Grayson (Osage), Lance Ryan McGoldrick, Billy Joe Miller & Hourseyes, Jazmin Novak (Diné), video mapping students from NMHU Media Arts program, and performances by comedian and juggler from Denver Sam Malcolm (Stillwater Paiute), among others.
“People continue to be speechless and awestruck when attempting to relay their experience of OneBeat.” – Shodekeh Talifero, 2018 (USA)
OneBeat convenes musical leaders from the U.S. and every region of the world to develop collaborative music initiatives that build resilient civil societies and contribute to cross-cultural dialogue. It has grown into a global community of musicians who link their artistic processes with the betterment of their communities. OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.