The volunteers of Big Heavy World have brought a cultural prize home to Vermont: Recognition for having the Best Global Music Office. The winners for the first-ever Music Cities Awards were announced during the live ceremony on 23 September 2020. 250 global music cities professionals attended the first-ever Music Cities Awards Ceremony. Held as a fully virtual event in the new Music Cities Community platform due to COVID-19, the Ceremony was made up of nine individual webinars, one for each award category, with the award winner announced at the end of each talk.
The 2020 Winners are based in three continents, five countries and nine cities, and the winning organizations range from music offices, national music centers, town & city governments, tourism boards and non-profit organizations.
The Music Cities Awards is a global competition designed to acknowledge and reward the most outstanding applications of music for economic, social and cultural development in cities and places all around the world. There are a total of nine Music Cities Awards spanning small to large city initiatives, tourism, sustainability, music offices, real estate and the nighttime economy. The awards also aim to promote best practice and demonstrate the value of music to the world.
James Lockridge, Executive Director of Big Heavy World, said, “It’s a thrill for Vermont’s volunteer-run independent music office to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with these established allies across the world. Vermont’s can-do spirit and love for our sparkling music community is shining on a worldwide stage!”
Big Heavy World is a volunteer-led project to preserve and promote Vermont-made music. With a crew that is mostly college and high-school aged, the organization has created an online gateway to Vermont’s music industries; constructed a licensed community radio station that plays Vermont-made music 24/7 between local DJs; amassed a cataloged archive of ~5,000 Vermont-made albums; hosted thousands of musicians on-air and in podcasts; curated an award-winning exhibit of local music history; established a ‘tiny’ museum; issued 15 compilation CDs; worked with state industry marketing and media partners to gain exposure for local artists; brought federal, state and local support to bear on policy and infrastructure improvements for the state’s music community; and produced live television, streaming and recorded performances and professional development workshops for musicians, among many other projects. It was founded in 1996.
The awards ceremony, hosted by Music Cities Events, took place virtually on September 23, 2020 — a full day ceremony with a live webinar took place for each award and with the winner announced at the end of each panel. Information about the Music Cities Awards can be found at https://www.musiccitiesevents.com/awards
Image: Bassist Aram Bedrosian (arambedrosian.com) performs on Big Heavy World’s live local music radio program ‘Rocket Shop’ on August 26, 2020. Photo by Luke Awtry Photography (lukeawtryphotography.com) @lukeawtryphotography.