UNC music department receives $1 million grant

Despite widespread budget cuts for the arts on a national level, the Chapel Hill arts community will continue to thrive due to a $1 million grant to UNC’s music department.

Terry Rhodes, music professor and senior associate dean for fine arts and humanities, said she is thrilled that the University received the grant from the U.S. Department of State.

“I’m glad to be recognized for the work the UNC music program is envisioning, which is especially unusual for the arts to be receiving,” Rhodes said.

The U.S. Department of State and the music department will use the grant money to create an international exchange program for hip-hop artists.

Music department chairman Mark Katz, who has overseen the implementation of the Next Level program at UNC using the grant money — a two-year program that will use hip-hop as a bridge to connect people from different cultures.

“The program, which began in September, will send hip-hop artists to six countries around the world,” Katz said.

The countries these young artists will travel to will include Bangladesh, India, Serbia, Senegal and Zimbabwe. The sixth country has yet to be determined.

“The state department chooses these countries for diplomatic and embassy reasons,” Katz said.

Hip-hop artists can apply to be a part of the Next Level program, which runs from March through May, by the end of this week.

“These artists will use hip-hop as a means of diplomacy and a tool for conflict resolution,” he said.

At the end of each artist’s international stint, the Americans will bring artists back to D.C. and Chapel Hill to give performances and workshops, Katz said.

Each country will send at least one disc jockey, rapper, beat maker and dancer back to the U.S.

Katz said he learned about the grant in April from fellow Carolina Beat Academy

Professor Pierce Freelon, and the two worked on writing the grant for submission to the State Department last spring.

“I found out that we got the grant in September, but things have moved slowly because of the government shutdown,” Katz said.

Katz said the grant money will be split up into different budget items, but not a cent of it has been spent yet.

“We need to pay the artists, the travel accommodations and administration on this end because it is a big group of people,” he said.

Katz said he hopes that the various communities the program works with will benefit from this grant, as well, and expose them to different communities and artists from around the world.

“The overall benefit is one of exchange — exchange of idea, talents and to learn from one another,” he said. “Music is a wonderful way for people of different cultures to communicate with each other, with hip-hop as the common language.”

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