Department of State March 10, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Cultural Programs Division in the Office of Citizen Exchanges in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement to administer the American Music Abroad program. The program will consist of approximately ten tours for a select number of professional American artists in a wide range of uniquely American musical genres. The program is designed to broadly represent the excellence and diversity of traditional American music. Some examples of American music genres include, but are not be limited to, contemporary urban music, hip hop, rock and roll, jazz and American roots music genres like country and western, bluegrass, zydeco, Cajun, and folk. The musicians selected for this program must demonstrate high artistic ability, evidence a strong commitment to education and exchange activities, and reflect the diversity of America and American music. They must be conversant with the broader aspects of contemporary American society and culture. International tours will include workshops, master classes, and outreach activities, in addition to performances. U.S. public and non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals that support the goals of the American Music Abroad program: to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries, and cross-cultural awareness. The tours accomplish this by providing an opportunity for international audiences to experience American musical life, highlighting the contemporary music scene as well as our country's cultural history, and allowing American performers to learn about life and culture in the foreign host countries. The Bureau is particularly interested in proposals for the administration of tours by American musicians representing diverse American music genres to countries with significant underserved populations that may not otherwise have access to American art forms, and countries with significant youth populations. The Bureau is also interested in proposals for projects that reach indigenous populations. No guarantee is made or implied that a grant will be awarded for tours to any particular region or that tours will be organized to any particular region. To be eligible for this competition, all organizations must demonstrate a minimum of five years' experience successfully conducting international performing arts exchange programs in the music field. The organization must have experience administering programs in multiple musical genres.