Opinion: The selection of three fellows for 1beat Program is evidence of #Kenya’s rising status as a cultural hub

One Beat Festival

What happens when you bring musicians from different continents in one country for a tour and residency program? Well, you have yourself smart power and that is what the United States of America has been up to of late. This is through the 1beat program that brought together 32 fellows from 21 countries to the US for tours and residency program.

What is 1beat?

OneBeat 2012 from Found Sound Nation on Vimeo.

OneBeatSM is an international music exchange that celebrates musical collaboration and social engagement through innovative people-to-people diplomacy. From September 10 – October 7, a group of exceptional young musicians from around the world will collaboratively write, record, produce, and perform original music in venues ranging from concert halls to city parks to rock clubs.  In addition to creating new work, OneBeat Fellows will partner with community organizations, schools, and socially-engaged local musicians to offer workshops, performances, and public dialogues.

Which Musicians Represented Kenya

Kenya is a bastion of sports especially track races and marathons but what is now emerging is that Kenya is also rising as a cultural hub. This is evident in selection of three Kenyan musicians out of eight who represented Africa. The musicians who represented Kenya are;

1. Nina Ogot: http://www.1beat.org/artists/nina-ogot/
2. Muthoni the Drummer Queen: http://www.1beat.org/artists/muthoni-ndonga/ and
3. Kato Change: http://www.1beat.org/artists/kato-change/

Other countries represented are Democratic Republic of Congo (with two musicians), Nigeria, Mozambique and Senegal each with one representative.

Check the photos and updates from 1Beat tour on their Facebook page

This post was first published on NairobiNow