City to host international music convention

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

An international music convention will be held in Hull next year.

The Music Cities Convention, described as “the world’s leading global event exploring the relationship between music and urban development”, will be hosted at venues across the city over two days from June 9.

It will feature more than 250 delegates from more than 25 countries who will gather to explore how music drives cultural, social, and economic change in cities around the world.

For a decade, the convention has convened policymakers, industry leaders and cultural entrepreneurs across four continents and ten countries.

The Hull Music Cities Convention will be hosted by Hull City Council, alongside Sound Diplomacy Events & Education, with the support of Visit Britain, Visit Hull and Culture Hull.

Councillor Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said: “We are delighted to be hosting this prestigious event in our great city next year.

“It's events like the Music Cities Convention that show the world we are serious about our ambitions to become a UNESCO City of Music.

“We look forward to welcoming music specialists from across the globe to Hull and show them what we have on offer.”

Delegates from the city attended this year’s convention at Fayetteville in the US state of Arkansas. They included Coun Pritchard – who took part in the formal handover from Fayetteville to Hull; rapper Chiedu Oraka; Kath Wynne-Hague, the council’s head of culture, place and city centre; and James Meadows, senior vice president of marketing at Chrysalis Records and a member of Hull Music Board.

The delegation was fully funded by the organisers.