5 continents, 21 countries, 32 musicians, infinite creative possibilities.

What happens when six international musicians from South Korea, Lebanon, Poland, Venezuela and the U.S. collaborate with Grammy-winning musicians and students from one of the country’s most prestigious music conservatories? Possibly the world will change.

Moving up the East Coast in September and October 2012, OneBeat will bring novel, collaborative sounds created by 32 young, eclectic international musicians to communities from Florida to New York, as part of a State Department effort to promote “art power” and person-to-person diplomacy via music. Working together and engaging with communities along the way, OneBeat Fellows will perform, create and surprise, with guidance and encouragement from some of America’s best loved names in hip hop, jazz, new music and other genres.

On Thursday, October 4, six of the OneBeat Fellows will make a stop in Philadelphia, including Weronika Partyka, clarinetist and singer from Poland; Kyungso Park, gayageum player from South Korea; Amir ElSaffar, trumpeter from New York; Edward Ramirez, cuatro player from Venezuela; Domenica Fossati, flutist and singer from New York; and Youmna Saba, singer and oud player from Lebanon.

They will be joined by special guests from the Grammy-winning ensemble eighth blackbird, as well as students from the Curtis Institute of Music. Together, the musicians will perform traditional music, improvisations and original compositions.

Since 2008, LiveConnections has served as a creator and curator of innovative, cross-genre music experiences. Our ClassicAlive series “The Collaborators” expands how classical music is experienced by breaking boundaries of repertoire, collaboration and atmosphere in innovative concerts designed to attract both new audiences and long-time classical fans.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, administered by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation. OneBeat builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy. It embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools, including music, to bring people, especially youth, together for greater understanding.

TICKETS: $10 adults, $5 students with ID