Auckland City of Music | Tāmaki Makaurau Pā Puoro was named Best Global Music City at the 3rd Annual Music Cities Awards at a ceremony in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday 5th November NZT. This is the second successive win for Auckland at these awards, following on from 2021’s award as Best Global Music Office.
The Music Cities Awards is a global competition designed to acknowledge and reward the most outstanding applications of music for economic, social, environmental and cultural development in cities and places all around the world.
The aim of the Best Global Music City category is to celebrate the city that has best integrated music into as many aspects of its development as possible, with the winning city able to demonstrate that it is actively supporting its music ecosystem, as well as integrating music into improving equity and inclusion, economic development, health, tourism, urban planning, night-time economy, community building, and more.
This year’s jury was impressed with the work Auckland City of Music has been doing and the impact the work has on communities across Tāmaki Makaurau.
Mark Roach, Director of Auckland City of Music, says “This award recognises the place that music plays in building world-class cities. By designing and embedding music-friendly policies in city planning; creating and protecting the spaces and places that music needs to thrive; and caring for the unique sounds of this region, we can create a sustainable music ecosystem for all.
"There is still much mahi to do, but in winning this award, I am confident we are on course to realise Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s potential as a global creative capital[1].”
With the aim of the awards being to promote best practice and demonstrate the value of music to the world, Luke Jones, CEO of Music Cities Events, the awards producer, states “We’re delighted with the success of the third edition of the Music Cities Awards. We received over 150 applications from twenty countries and five continents, and each application demonstrated how versatile and powerful music can be. It was exciting to be able to gather all of these examples of how music can be used to improve cities around the world.”
Mirla Edmundson, Auckland Council’s Acting Director of Customer and Community Services, says “We’re thrilled this award recognises the efforts of the partnership and acknowledges our unique music industry and culture across Tāmaki Makaurau.
"Auckland is a highly creative city, filled with world-class musicians, music workers, orchestras, venues and festivals and it’s wonderful to help play a part in bringing them to the world stage.”
The win recognises key Auckland City of Music and Auckland Council activations and projects, as well as the collaborative efforts of the municipal and music sector partners to find ways to solve challenges and maximise opportunities within the ecosystem. More information can be found at: aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/arts-culture-heritage/arts/Pages/auckland-city-music.aspx
[1] Tātaki Auckland Unlimited published Create Auckland 2030, a strategy for growing the creative economy. The vision statement is to see “Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland navigating towards a global creative capital.” aucklandnz.com/createakl2030
