Esperanza Spalding To Host New Program, “Find The Beat” on PBS

BASSIST, VOCALIST AND COMPOSER ESPERANZA SPALDING TO HOST FIND THE BEAT

A NEW CPB/PBS DIVERSITY AND INNOVATION FUND PROGRAM

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CP are pleased to announce that bassist, vocalist and composer Esperanza Spalding, in response to the Diversity and Innovation Fund Request for Proposals, has been asked to host Find The Beat, a progressive new television show on PBS.

Find The Beat, a new program that promotes diversity, features Spalding joining with a group, a band or solo musician to explore the roots of their music. Their journeys take them to see authentic performers, explore cultural connections and investigate musical history.

PBS and the CPB issued a request for proposals for a new television show to be sponsored by their Diversity and Innovation Fund. The DI Fund, “seeks to diversify the National Program Service by attracting younger and more racially and ethnically diverse viewers and visitors.” More than 200 submissions were received in response to the request for proposals, from which only 16 were chosen by their editorial staff to advance to panel review.

Esperanza Spalding combines the imaginative flights of a serious improviser with the musical accessibility of a pop star and within two years of her solo debut has beguiled success at nearly unimaginable heights. Esperanza, her 2008 release, spent over 70 weeks on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart and was the most successful internationally selling debut that year.

Spalding’s most recent release, Chamber Music Society, is a brilliant marriage of string and jazz trio, and a showcase for her eclectic sensibilities along with her vocal and compositional talents. Other career highlights include two televised performances at the White House, a Banana Republic ad campaign, features in Oprah Magazine and The New Yorker, numerous awards and high profile tour dates, capped by an invitation to perform at the 2010 Nobel Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

To learn more about Esperanza Spalding, visit her online at: www.esperanzaspalding.com

PBS is inviting public comment and wants to hear from you now. Support diverse and innovative programming on public television by telling PBS to fund Find The Beat with Esperanza Spalding: [email protected]”> [email protected]