UNESCO Cities of Music

Land Acknowledgement:

We acknowledge that the land on which London gathers is the traditional territory of the Attawandaron, Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee and Lunaapeewak peoples who have longstanding relationships to the land, water and region of Southwestern Ontario. The local First Nation communities of this area include Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, Oneida Nation of the Thames and Munsee-Delaware Nation. Additionally, there is a growing urban Indigenous population who make the city of London home. We value the significant historical and contemporary contributions of local and regional First Nations of Turtle Island (North America).

OVERVIEW

Vision: Develop London into a more robust, culturally diverse and enriched music community.

London has deep roots in the creative field of music and continues working towards improving and growing the sector. As Canada’s first UNESCO City of Music, we recognize the importance of this designation and the on-going commitment.

Hub for Music Education, Production and Engineering

London is a music education and production hub with three internationally recognized post-secondary schools. London continues to develop world-renowned, award-winning talent including artists, songwriters, producers and engineers through Western University, Fanshawe College and Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART). Distinguished scholars, composers, administrators, teachers and performers educate London’s 1,000+ post-secondary music students.

Music education starts at an early age. Local organizations reduce participation barriers and promote inclusive music education through formal music lessons, mentorship opportunities, use of recording facilities, audio engineering programs, music instrument lending libraries, performance opportunities and unique bursary programs to help students achieve academic success. London’s music community also recognizes excellence through a dedicated local music hall of fame and regional awards show.

Leading Music Event City:

London has proven itself on the Canadian stage, hosting large nationally significant events such as the Canadian Country Music Awards in 2016 and 2021 as well as the JUNOS in 2019. London is gaining international attention as a leading Music City with hundreds of thousands attending festivals, large events, concert and community performances annually. Local partners have also elevated London’s name on the international stage through unique programming offerings, collaborative partnerships and artist exchange programs using London as a landing pad for the international music community.

Established Music Strategy:

The London Music Strategy (2014) was developed through multiple years of consultation with local stakeholders including a 25-member Music Task Force. This focused strategy led to the creation of a dedicated Music Office to monitor and implement the Music Strategy with support from key city partners.

Focus Areas of London’s Plan:

• Music Incubation: Nurture music talent and aid in transitioning students into meaningful music careers
• Inclusive Community: Create inclusive participation and representation in the local music community
• Music & Film: Work collaboratively within the film sector to strengthen the relationship between music and film
• City of Music Exchanges: Work with national and international UCCN cities to host artists and industry exchange opportunities
• Music Conferences: Attract and host regional, national and international music meetings and conferences
• Media Arts: Strengthen the UCCN and London’s media arts sector through collaborative work with Cities of Media Arts

Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia located by the Baltic Sea. The pleasantly perceivable scale of the city encourages musicians from different fields to cooperate with one another, as a result of which unique musical events are born – historical organs alongside modern experimental electronic music, or jazz alongside the opera are a part of everyday life in Tallinn.

Tallinn is a city that connects people through music. The Song Festival is the largest music festival in Estonia, with tens of thousands of singers and even more spectators, along with choirs and orchestras from all over Estonia, but often also from other parts of the world. In every two years a powerful ‘river of music’ passes through Tallinn, a procession of choirs which walks the route from the city centre to the singing stage.

Tallinn is also home to three outstanding international festivals: one of the most important jazz festivals in Northern Europe – Jazzkaar, Tallinn Music Week – festival for tomorrow’s music and ideas, and the Estonian Music Days, which introduce contemporary Estonian music, top collectives, and various leading performers. 

Tallinn is the city of composers and new music, having witnessed the emergence of several unique music styles. It was while working in Tallinn that Arvo Pärt achieved his own personal style (tintinnabuli), which has made the composer the world’s most widely-performed living classical music composer. Thanks to the composer, Veljo Tormis, a dying tradition of the runic song was given a fresh form with a relation to art music. Today, the runic song has influenced various musical styles, from classical to pop and rock. Tallinn is also one of the most important centres in the region when it comes to experimental music, such as, for example, people who come here to study modern improvisation based on original tradition.

Estonia is one of the few countries in the world where musical education is a compulsory part of general education. It is considered natural for every child to sing, and that thousands of children sing in choirs and participate in music studios. It is this educational peculiarity that has made song festivals possible, with them being attended by tens of thousands of amateur singers, and with a repertoire which often does not lag behind that of a professional choir. It was in Tallinn that experimental music classes were established in general education schools, with innovative musical teaching methods being used and where the work which has been undertaken has raised Estonia’s general choir culture to such a high level.

To offer world-class opportunities to create and enjoy music in all its diversity, Tallinn has set six strategic objectives:

• To increase the professionalisation, diversity and internationalisation of the entire music scene.
• To discover, nurture and empower new talent in music through multi-layered music education and young audience engagement.
• To make music more accessible for everybody.
• To encourage re-emergence and development of sustainable cultural tourism.
• To make Tallinn a more inclusive community based on shared values.
• To support viable and sustainable music industry with strong innovation and digital capacity.

Kharkiv is the major scientific and cultural center of Ukraine, with youth being the driving force and the ambassador of music and creativity in the city. The philosophy of our city is the synergy of creative, spiritual potential together with the economic component. Creativity is seen as the driving force of culture and the main purpose of its formation.

How does Kharkiv sound?  Kharkiv and its citizens adore music so much that it pervades official events and youth initiatives, performances by musicians with world-famous names and performances by street culture representatives. Kharkiv is one of the fastest growing cities in Ukraine.

Our city is unique in its multicultural heritage, has rich folk music traditions. Kharkiv is famous for its orchestras, the brightest representative of which is the extremely popular first private orchestra Prime Orchestra, the founder of a new kind of symphony show, combining all modern music directions and the classical symphony. Prime Orchestra is the music ambassador of modern Kharkiv and represents the city worldwide.

In 2020, 2021, the city holds the Creative IndustriesFestival “Creative Kharkiv”, which aims to create a single platform and cross-sectoral support for all participants in the creative industries sector in the city. The festival brings together theater, music, IT, artists, sculptors, singers and all other creative people in one place. It creates conditions for the mentioned to share experience and knowledge. This festival creates new cross-sectoral projects, such as augmented reality galleries, or online concerts with augmented reality effects.

As a creative city Kharkiv proposes:

– Creation and sustainable work of the creative industries cluster as a permanent platform for interaction among business, science, investors with representatives of creative industries of the city. The main goals are: to unite the best world practices in the field of creative industries into a single ecosystem; to promote investment to support projects in the field of creative industries; to form the positive image of the city of Kharkiv; to discover, support, develop young talented artists in the field of creative industries; to foster the development of representatives of creative industries by uniting different members in a cluster system. This will provide an opportunity to create a cohesive community, to facilitate mutual learning and exchange of experiences, to provide opportunities for integration and cross-sectoral projects among cluster members. It also stipulates for the creation of educational programs, carrying out educational courses,cultural hubs with use of modern world tendencieson a regular basis.

– Holding a series of festivals and forums aimed at forming and developing the city’s creative industries sector, namely holding an annual international city music festival, creating social music and educational projects, provision of access to music education for a widercommunity, developing ethnic and contemporary national music in city.

– Creation of conditions and platforms in city parks, squares for musicians, the purpose of which is to stimulate the development of unique musical content, which has territorial and ethnic special features. Creating music that would characterize a certain city and will be associated with it and reveal its philosophy.

Creation of an international music festival, with the aim to promote the goals of the network, contribute to international cooperation, expand access for citizens and all those interested in the creative sphere, to promote the idea of gender equality. It is planned to involve network partner cities in the festival. This event will become a kind of keystone of creativity. The participants of the event will have the opportunity to gain new knowledge, skills, present themselves and gain new contacts in the international and local professional environment.

Sanandaj the capital of Kurdistan province is the cultural capital of the Kurdistan. With a population of around 500000 in 2016 it is the second most populated Kurdish city of Iran. Some ancient works found in this historic city date back to 6000 years ago.

About 400 years ago Sanandaj was the centre of Ardalan rule the longest and most powerful local government of Kurds in history. Some very picturesque and historic monuments of the past history of this city have been preserved. Sanandaj has a long history of peaceful coexistence of different religions and deep-rooted cultural tolerance. The city has an area of about 2906 Km2 and is located in the middle reaches of Zagros mountains and plains in western Iran. Sanandaj is an immigrant city and most of its population is in the service sector. In addition handicrafts – including the making of musical instruments – and in villages around the city livestock and crop production are prevalent.

The city is administered by a City Council with members elected by direct vote for 4 years. The Municipality is responsible for implementing the Council’s decisions in urban management. The shared strategy of the authorities and the people is to move towards investing in and development of music and its related arts. For various reasons Sanandaj is less known globally and its designation as a Creative City of Music will be an opportunity to introduce the city’s potentials to the world and will contribute to its development.

Vision: Our vision for the city of Sanandaj is to use culture, creativity and music as a factor for the development and strengthening of social capital.

Areas of action:

      The objectives of UNESCO Creative Cities Network are implemented both at the level of the member cities at the international level, notably through the following areas of action:

• sharing experiences, knowledge and best practices;
• pilot projects, partnerships and initiatives associating the public and private sectors, and civil
• professional and artistic exchange programs and networks;
• studies, research and evaluations on the experience of the Creative Cities;
• policies and measures for sustainable urban development;
• communication and awareness raising activities.

Located approximately 16km north of Jerusalem in the West Bank, and perched some 880m above the sea level, Ramallah means God’s Hills in Aramaic and Semitic language. Currently, there are 71,880 persons inhabiting Ramallah, living on a 21 sq. km of land, and surrounded by 80 localities (towns and villages) with a total population of 350,000.

Ramallah beholds a historic landmark, “Khirbet al Tireh”, which tells that Ramallah  was inhabited from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods and its land was used for agriculture through the Ottoman period to modern times; it is one of the most important excavated archeological sites in Palestine, and based on an inscription incised in Greek letters on broken pieces of a marble “church screen” found in the ruins of the Byzantine church it is concluded that Saint Stephanos – the first Christian martyr, was originally buried at Khirbet al Tireh in the garden of Ghamla before being reinterred in Jerusalem in 415 A.D.

Early modern history of Ramallah shows that it was established in the mid-1500s by the Haddadin family as a Christian family. Ramallah grew throughout the 17th and 18th centuries as a predominantly agricultural village, and by the mid-1800s, missionary groups built different schools and churches. More people moved to the newly incorporated city in the early 1900s. Since then, our prosperity, continuity, and identity have been tested through separate periods of occupation and mass immigration. Today, Ramallah remains under Israeli occupation, meaning we lack control over Palestinian resources that are crucial for our resilience, including mobility, land and water.

Ramallah today is the temporary administrative seat of the Government of Palestine ‘GoP’ and growing as a hub for culture, economic and recreational activities in Palestine, making it cosmopolitan city, caring for and serving its surroundings and country-wide.

Ramallah is a base for many major organizations, including NGOs of different mandates and private sector such as telecommunication, Banks and insurance companies. It is also a home to a burgeoning cultural and arts scene. Ramallah is a city that embraces diversity, free exchange of ideas, creativity, and respect for the human and cultural rights of its residents and visitors.

Ramallah also has an increasingly international outlook. Not only are we proud to be part of the Global Resilient Cities network (formerly known as 100 Resilient Cities Organization), but we also have formal connections with more than 35 cities from all over the globe. Through these connections we seek to represent the voice of our city, share knowledge and help implement best practice initiatives for our citizens, eventually build city resilience and achieve sustainable development.

In light of this background, in 2017, the city had launched is first ever Urban Resilience Strategy “Ramallah Resilience Strategy 2025” with a Vision:

“We are optimistic, sustainable, inclusive, and proud of our own culture and in control of our own destiny.”

With the leadership of the municipality and in partnership with local and international partners, Ramallah Municipality had developed its Resilience Strategy, a long-term strategy for Ramallah and its surroundings. The strategy provides a promising model for an integrated approach to realizing sustainable urban development in our city, as well as Palestine.

Norrköping is the cultural capital of the Region Östergötland – just south of the swedish capital and fellow music city Stockholm. As a UNESCO City of Music Norrköping has a history of making music and other cultural expressions part of the city development – in an innovative, diverse  and including way.

Events like Willhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition, Hugo Parkfestival, Bob Marley memorial, Rock in the forest, Pratté harpfestival and the Folk music festival combined with institutions like the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and musical heritage like raising the producer of pop phenomenon ABBA – Michael B Tretow make Norrköping a small, but solid part of music cities on the global arena.

The municipality of Norrköping make music available for all and supports all genres, creating a very interesting mix of creative, indie music communities. The beatuiful city centre  and Norrköping being a logistic centre in Sweden make it a good place for event production and a growing cluster of music producers within genres like techno/electronic music, reggae, jazz, metal and the unique pop sound make up an interesting mix.

Music and arts have been a part of the city identity for hundreds of years. The municipality of Norrköping are working with the concept ”Let´s create” (together). Arbis Night club was once the place for local soirees when the workers for the textile and paper industries 150 years ago. Today the cultural hub of Hallarna is a place where people, organizations and creative industries meet.

In 2017 a coordinator for music development was placed at the Trade and industry office to explore the development of the creative sector. Norrköping make music available for everyone through classes included in the educational system, music classes and secondary art schools. Programs like El Systema and School of culture provide musical education for young people (4-24 yr) after school hours. The higher education for Folkhögskola and the University of Linköping with programs that combine culture and entreprenurship.

International talents like solo violinist Johan Dalene, not yet 20 years old, Royal opera singer Elin Rombo and popstar Marcus Krunegård were nurtured here and the Norrköping Symphony orchestra collaborate with the Royal academy of music in Stockholm.

The night of culture is a unique, joint project for all creatives in all expressions since more than 20 years and Norrköping was named City of jazz in 2019. Clusters for culture tech, Visual Sweden and East Sweden Game and a strong development for gastronomy and film are part of the cultural scene, that also boasts a great spread of performing arts like theatre, new cirkus, dance and visual media art.

With a world class Visualization center and art museums , the Concert hall Louis De Geer and Kolmarden Zoo & entertainment park in Sweden Norrköping has a lot to offer tourists apart from big events and festivals.  

2015-2018 Norrköping hosted the swedish showcasefestival ”Where´s the music”, in 2019 we hosted Sound Diplomacy Music Cities Forum. Starting 2021 there will be a new, annual, innovative  – national and international – platform for music cities and industry.

Valparaíso, the highest heritage city in Chile, is a long-standing commune that was never founded. Always occupied as an improvised dock by the natives, after the European arrival it became one of the most important cities in Latin America given its port status. Today it is the regional capital in whose surroundings you will find magnificent attractions such as valleys, vineyards, mountains and beautiful beaches.

With a vibrant culture in its 42 hills, the nights of Valparaiso keep the secret of one of the most active bohemian cities in Chile. Tradition and modernity in one place, typical parties and the friendliness of the Valparaiso inhabitants make this city a unique experience.

Its privileged mild climate allows you to enjoy its nature and architecture throughout the year. Its scales and viewpoints are beautiful windows to the past and the future, where its people and lifestyle can be seen in detail.

Valparaíso is the seat of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage with a population of 300 thousand people, but is part of an urban nucleus of more than 1 million inhabitants. His history kept him connected to cultural and technological advances, positioning himself as a pole of innovation and entrepreneurship at the national level.

Its historic center was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, as an exceptional testimony of the early stages of globalization. Valparaíso is a university city, where approximately 120,000 people attend undergraduate and graduate studies in the 10 higher education establishments that make it, the city with the highest university activity in the country in relation to its population, generating a framework of national cooperation and international available to the city and the network of creative cities.

In the last 2 decades, Valparaíso has proposed the path of sustainable development, to ease a long process of stagnation and the high unemployment rates that characterize it, taking advantage of its main assets: a privileged geographical position, a unique material heritage and especially its community, resilient, creative and entrepreneurial; which today seeks to consolidate itself as a Musical City.

The musical culture resonates in the hills with a large organization of carnival parades and popular carnivals. In its natural amphitheater given by its “crazy” geography, a multitude of musical artists see the inspiration for their creations in the old port. Music resonates in streets, corners and staircases daily, bouncing between echoes from the hills, since its origins.

The city’s growth at a creative level in recent decades has given rise to countless musical events that take place on weekends in bars and local stages. Highlights include the great Rockodromo musical event, a great festival of bands and soloists, consecrated and emerging, that converge on three large stages, bringing together thousands of national, international tourists, in addition to inhabitants of Valparaiso. A sample of the musical culture that Valparaíso, the jewel of the pacific of the 21st century, cultivates and sows from the Port to the world.

Situated in the Central Region of Portugal, Leiria is the District’s capital.

The County is 568km2 and 126.897 inhabitants; while the city itself is home to 42.785 residents.

Leiria is in a privileged geographical position, near the coastline, and at the axis of the main transport links between the country’s two major cities, Oporto and Lisbon.

Leiria is a city where the Future is built. In the thirteenth century, the troubadour king, D. Dinis, composed here the “cantigas de amigo” that embody the Portuguese-Galician songbook. From this castle, he looked at the vastness spreading until the sea and ordered the Pinhal de Leiria to be planted. Two centuries later it’s wood would be used for the caravels that sailed the globe. Music and this visionary capacity are part of the DNA of the leirienses. With a strong industry and great quality of life, there is a predisposition to make and consume culture.

Musically, Leiria appears in the national and international panorama at the forefront of social and artistic projects that work on social equity, human dignity and inclusion. Here, musicians, dancers, writers and artists of international renown have grown; here, the most emblematic projects in the relationship between Music and human dignity began: OPERA IN PRISON, HERE WITH YOU or CONCERTS FOR BABIES, already replicated all over the world. With an enviable natural  and architectonic heritage, the city has been able to reinvent itself to create a true public space where culture is lived daily through events such as THE DOOR, ENTREMURALHAS, MUSIC IN LEIRIA or by pop and rock bands, centennial wind bands, choirs and  folklore groups.

The squares, the gardens, the River Lis, the streets and the halls are lively and dynamic places, meeting places where culture is lived daily. Annually, the City offers itself in the form of Music.

Veszprém: A City Tuned to Music

Veszprém truly is a town that loves music. For us, it’s not just about the big names, professional artists, or mass events, but a deep commitment to making music an everyday part of life for everyone. We actively motivate amateurs and hobby musicians, understanding that music builds communities and provides our residents with unforgettable experiences. We are proud of the local bands that have grown up here and regularly perform at venues like Expresszó Klub, our vibrant choir meetings involving groups like the Veszprém City Choir, and the electrifying outdoor popular music concerts at the Gyárkert Cultural Park, which can host up to 5,000 people. Our annual Street Music Festival, featuring global bands, attracts tens of thousands and offers a vital opportunity for emerging Hungarian artists to introduce themselves. VeszprémFest brings high-level, prestigious international stars to stages in town, and the renowned Auer Violin Festival celebrates classical virtuosity at venues like the Hangvilla Multifunctional Community Centre. Thanks to our open and music-loving audience, many stars who have once performed here—from Jamie Cullum to Katie Melua at VeszprémFest, or even international street musicians—eagerly return.

This profound openness has fostered a rich musical ecosystem, with numerous amateur and professional choirs and orchestras thriving across the city. The Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra of Veszprém is a prime example of a leading professional ensemble. We regularly see three parallel classical music concert series, often playing to full houses. Every weekend – and on many weekdays at venues like Papírkutya – we provide concerts and electronic music events for 100 to 1,200 young people at various clubs and cultural spaces. Consequently, relative to its size, Veszprém is a leading Hungarian city in organizing live music events.

We do not emphasize one single style or event; instead, we focus on music itself as a powerful tool for communication among people and communities. Participation is what truly counts, because we believe that music can genuinely make life better at both individual and collective levels. This is why we’re committed to creating more dedicated social areas for playing music—such as the refurbished spaces within Agóra Veszprém Cultural Centre—encouraging people to learn and perform through institutions like the Hangár pop music education centre (which was “sold out” during its pilot period) and the Antal Csermák School of Music (educating nearly 900 students). We also continue to bring even more inspiring events to our town. Essentially, we want to simultaneously strengthen and widen music’s foundation, understanding that a broader base allows its peak to reach ever higher.

http://zenevarosa.hu/en/article/summarising-city-of-music