Kei Slaughter Named OneBeat 11 Fellow In addition to the fellowship, the music therapy faculty member recently conducted an original commissioned piece at the Pride Arts Showcase in Cincinnati.
By
Daniel Pesquera
April 14, 2023
Kei Slaughter
Kei Slaughter, an associate professor in Berklee's Music Therapy Department, has been named a OneBeat 11 Fellow, a distinction given to leading musical and social innovators. With the honor, Slaughter joins OneBeat 11, a group of 25 artists from 17 countries that includes musicians, instrument builders, sculptors, educators, and entrepreneurs.
Slaughters selection for the fellowship was a notable achievement, as the 25 artists were chosen from a pool of more than 1,200 applicants. The selection theme for 2023 is Buried Knowledge, a concept that examines music's role in unearthing, reviving, and celebrating hidden or suppressed histories, traditions, and cultures. Fellows will work with renowned musicians and cultural leaders such as Lonnie Holley, Carlton Tuner, and Matthew Evan Taylor to create original works that inspire deeper connection to diverse cultural heritage.
Created by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, OneBeat connects musicians from around the globe to collaboratively write, produce, and perform original music while developing strategies for arts-based civic and social engagement.
I look forward to working alongside a host of so many amazing musicians and creative collaborators from all over the world, and learning things that I can integrate into my teaching here at Berklee and into my clinical practice as a music therapist serving marginalized communities, said Slaughter. I also want to express my gratitude to my department chair, Dr. Joy Allen, and my music therapy colleagues here at Berklee, for their unwavering support.
Kei Slaughter conducts a flute choir through their original work, ban, at the Pride Arts Showcase.
Image by Vincenzo Volpe
In addition to the fellowship, Slaughter was recently commissioned to compose an original work for the Pride Arts Showcase on International Transgender Day of Visibility in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their piece, titled ban, was performed by queer and allied flutists from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) as part of a community celebration of art and expression. Slaughter conducted the flute choir through the performance, which served as a workshop for the piece before its official premiere this summer.
Fellow flutist Vincenzo Volpe, a D.M.A. candidate at CCM, tapped Slaughter to write a brand new piece for the Pride Arts Showcase, a cross-disciplinary event that aims to amplify the voices of transgender and nonbinary artists alongside the rest of the LGBTQ community. As a queer Black composer, Slaughter drew inspiration from the recent antitrans legislation they believe threatens their basic right to a safe space for authentic self-expression.
My work ban is an extension of my reflections, reactions, and relationship to the current sociopolitical climate and the blatant violence against and discarding of trans people, said Slaughter. As a nonbinary transmasculine person, writing this piece was very cathartic for me. The fact that it premiered on International Transgender Day of Visibility was even more special.
Kei Slaughter with Vincenzo Volpe at the Pride Arts Showcase
Our community has done very little to amplify the voices of Black and brown composers, and even less for our transgender and nonbinary siblings, said Volpe. Considering the political climate of today, it is important now more than ever to practice social justice through our work as artists and celebrate all identities.
While Slaughter has been a board-certified music therapist for over 12 years, their original dream was to become a pediatrician. However, with roots deeply embedded in classical flute and the spiritual songs of the New Orleans church, Slaughter could not abandon their passion for music. Music therapy proved to be a perfect match for Slaughter, who specializes in therapy for BIPOC youth, LGBTQIA2S individuals, and survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Additionally, Slaughter is the founder of S O U L F O L K Sounds, a music and wellness practice that focuses on elevating and sustaining Black queer and trans communities.
Slaughter will be present when ban officially premieres at the annual National Flute Association Convention, held in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 5. The piece will be performed by the National Flute Association LGBTQ Flute Choir.
Our team is incredibly proud to work with and learn alongside Professor Slaughter. We are beyond excited for them to receive this extremely well-deserved fellowship, said Dr. Joy Allen, chair of the Music Therapy Department. Professor Slaughter brings a wealth of experience as an educator, clinician, musician, and community leader. Furthermore, their authenticity and presence resonates with students, faculty, staff, and the greater community. Professor Slaughter has a deep understanding of music's vital ability to give a voice to those who have been silenced and marginalized and its ability to foster hope and build community. This is reflected in their empathetic approach to music therapy, and their dedicated efforts as an advocate for the LGBTQIA2S and BIPOC communities.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Erica Muhl is inaugurated as Berklees president at MGM Music Hall at Fenway on April 4.
Image by Michael D. Spencer
Berklee Celebrates the Inauguration of President Erica Muhl Muhl is the first woman and fourth president to lead Berklee.
Latest
Kei Slaughter
Kei Slaughter Named OneBeat 11 Fellow In addition to the fellowship, the music therapy faculty member recently conducted an original commissioned piece at the
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...
17/10/2025
The University of Arizona (UofA) has significantly upgraded its broadcast communication infrastructure with the integration of Riedel Communications' advanc...
17/10/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that New England Sports Network (NESN), owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, has selected Harmonic as its en...
17/10/2025
Austin PBS has recently upgraded its facility-wide communications infrastructure, deploying Clear-Com 's Eclipse HX, FreeSpeak II beltpacks, and V-Series ...
17/10/2025
ZEISS announces an open call for the closed BETA testing phase of CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology, the innovative digital tool that brings authentic lens chara...
17/10/2025
Situated in the town of Kokkola, Centria University of Applied Sciences offers higher education across five core fields: engineering, business, social and healt...
17/10/2025
Public information channel in Georgia, USA, to implement a powerful, simple, and cost-effective playout automation platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, co...
17/10/2025
HBO Max is reporting that it has launched in 15 new markets, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Macau, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ukraine, boosting the streaming serv...
17/10/2025
Netflix said it will make a major push into video podcasts, inking a wide-ranging deal with Spotify through which it will offer 16 podcasts in the U.S. starting...
17/10/2025
Lexington, Ky. As part of a push to highlight its advanced advertising capabilities, Viamedia has launched a new AI-powered ad tech platform and officially rebr...
17/10/2025
NEW YORK QuickLink has announced the release of StudioPro Version 4, which the company is calling the most significant upgrade yet to its flagship video product...
17/10/2025
NEW YORK and CUPERTINO, Calif. Apple and NBCUniversal said they will sell Apple TV and Peacock streaming bundles to U.S. subscribers starting Oct. 20....
Kei Slaughter Named OneBeat 11 Fellow In addition to the fellowship, the music therapy faculty member recently conducted an original commissioned piece at the Pride Arts Showcase in Cincinnati.
