ABOUT US
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OUR CITY: ADELAIDE
Adelaide is a city with music as its heartbeat.
It is Australia’s first, and only, UNESCO City of Music.
Adelaide is bursting with creativity and culture. South Australia is known for its world-class events and festivals, and the city and its surrounds boast a calendar packed with exciting showcases and cultural events. Our passion for arts, culture and live music are second to none.
Photo by: Trentino Priori
ADELAIDE UNESCO CITY OF MUSIC
Adelaide is a city with music as its heartbeat.
It is Australia’s first, and only, UNESCO City of Music.
Adelaide’s backbone is its diverse and vibrant cultural heritage. Its enviable musical reputation hails back to iconic Australian bands from The Master’s Apprentices, Cold Chisel and The Angels, to contemporary trailblazers like the Hilltop Hoods, and Tkay Maidza, and singer-songwriters Paul Kelly, Guy Sebastian, and Sia Furler.
The city is home to countless independent musicians, an entrepreneurial music industry that’s growing by the day, and a plethora of live music venues. The city is admired for its world-class music and arts festivals, leading music education and performance institutions including Australia’s oldest tertiary music school, the Elder Conservatorium; and for being the founding city of Australia’s national classical music radio network, ABC Classic FM.
Being designated a UNESCO City of Music in 2015 was and continues to be a proud moment for Adelaide. The esteemed designation means the city became a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, joining 246 others globally (including 47 Cities of Music). Members from six continents cover seven creative fields: Crafts & Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Music and Media Arts. Other UNESCO Creative Cities in Australia include Melbourne (Literature), Bendigo (Gastronomy), and Sydney (Film).
Adelaide, like others in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, is a city that believes music has the power to change lives profoundly. It’s looking towards the future to build on its already vibrant and exciting cultural scene, and to further its international reach.
Photo by: Daniel Marks
THE UNESCO CREATIVE CITIES NETWORK
UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a network of 246 cities across the globe that are working towards the common goal of placing creativity, and cultural industries, at the heart of their development plans. By joining the network, cities commit to sharing their best practices and developing partnerships.
What We Do
UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a network of 246 cities across the globe that are working towards the common goal of placing creativity, and cultural industries, at the heart of their development plans. The UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with - and among - cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
Culture and creativity is promoted in all of the network’s cities at both a local and international level. By joining the network, cities commit to sharing their best practices and developing partnerships.
Put simply, the ‘City of Music’ designation recognises excellence: the world’s Cities of Music are specialists in the craft, and there’s an obligation on them to nurture and support their art form and collaborate internationally.
The UNESCO designation is also an investment in the future. Cities of Music are expected to share best practices and projects that ensure music reaches as broad and diverse an audience as possible, locally and globally. They’re also expected to embrace long-term global partnerships and other opportunities that can support and promote the local music sector. The designation helps to not only integrate and engage citizens, music makers and creatives; but also institutions and the tourism sector, through diverse music activities and local, national and global cooperation.
As a UNESCO City of Music we:
- Advocate the value of music to enrich lives, celebrate diversity and improve wellbeing and promote cultural diplomacy
- Promote South Australian music globally, through the UNESCO Creative Cities network
- Connect musicians, music organisations and the music sector locally, and through the UNESCO Creative Cities network
The Office will occasionally call out for applications for initiatives from individuals and organisations when working with project partners. However, the Office is not currently resourced to fund projects.
The Office is a not for profit operating as a company limited by guarantee.
We are currently supported by Arts SA, the City of Adelaide, Adelaide Festival Centre, the South Australian Government’s Department for Innovation and Skills through the Music Development Office (MDO), and The University of Adelaide.
The office is now located at St Paul’s Creative Centre, 200 Pulteney Street, Adelaide.
Amarante – Portugal (2017)
Ambon – Indonesia (2019)
Almaty – Kazakhstan (2017)
Auckland – New Zealand (2017)
Bogota – Colombia (2012)
Bologna – Italy (2006)
Brazzaville – Democratic Republic of Congo (2013)
Brno – Czech Republic
Chennai – India (2017)
Daegu -Republic of Korea (2017)
Essaouira (Morocco) – (2019)
Frutillar – Chile (2017)
Ghent – Belgium (2009)
Glasgow – Scotland (2008)
Hamamatsu – Japan (2014)
Hannover – Germany (2014)
Havana – Cuba (2019)
Idanha-a-Nova – Portugal (2015)
Kansas – United States of America (2017)
Kazan – Russian Federation (2019)
Katowice – Poland (2015)
Kingston – Jamaica (2015)
Kinshasa – Democratic Republic of Congo (2015)
Kırşehir – Turkey (2019)
Leiria – Portugal (2019)
Liverpool – UK (2015)
Lliria – Spain (2019)
Mannheim – Germany
Medellin – Colombia (2015)
Metz – France (2019)
Morelia – Mexico (2017)
Norrkoping – Sweden (2017)
Pesaro – Italy (2017)
Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) 2019
Praia- Carbo Verde (2017)
Ramallah – Palestine (2019)
Salvador – Brazil (2015)
Sanandaj – Iran Islamic Republic of (2019)
Santo Domingo – Dominican Republic (2019)
Seville – Spain (2004)
Tongyeong – Korea (2015)
Varanasi – India (2015)
Valparaíso – Chile (2019)
Valledupar -Colombia (2019)
Veszprém – Hungary (2019)
Vranje – Serbia (2019)
Read more about the Adelaide UNESCO City of Music Activity:
2017/18 Activity Report
2018/19 Activity Report
2019/20 Activity Report
Photo by: Tony Lewis
OUR TEAM
Our board of directors
COUNCILLOR JESSY KHERA
Councillor of City of Adelaide Council
GRAEME KOEHNE
Elder Conservatorium of Music
MARIA AMATO
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Independent Record Labels Association
REBECCA PEARCE
Chief Executive Officer, Adelaide City of Music Limited
Amanda Pepe
CEO of multidisciplinary arts, technology and hospitality enterprise
Vincent Ciccarrello
Managing Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Walker
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Independent Record Labels Association