Auckland UNESCO City Of Music has been named as the Best Global Music Office 2021 at the international Music Cities Awards.

The second-ever Music Cities Awards ceremony was held on November 9 as a fully virtual event featuring 250 global music cities professionals and 30 award nominees from countries spanning five continents and 21 countries. The winners named come from eight countries and 10 cities.

“It’s an honour to be recognised for our work by international peers on a global stage,” says Mark Roach, Director of Auckland City of Music. “Auckland has always been an incredibly vibrant music city, blessed with not only amazing music creators but talented and creative people across the entire music ecosystem. Our office serves as a whare that connects those people and organisations in music with our municipal partners to achieve positive outcomes for our community.”

With the Covid pandemic having a global effect in the past year Roach cites projects such as Equaliser, Tautitiotito, Young Gig Makers and the Aotearoa Music Photography Award, and partner projects Sync-Posium, From The Pit, Young At Art and Our Venues as examples of the Auckland music strategy in action.