{"id":2469354,"date":"2026-06-21T14:13:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T14:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2469354"},"modified":"2026-06-21T14:13:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T14:13:58","slug":"looking-back-on-citys-year-of-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/looking-back-on-citys-year-of-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back on city’s ‘year of music’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Demand for gigs is growing, but more support is needed for grassroots venues, city’s music chiefs have said as its first ever Year of Music draws to a close.<\/p>\n

The event started last June, a few months after Sunderland joined the international Music Cities Network.<\/p>\n

Kenny Sanger, who runs The Bunker, which provides recording studios and training, said the year of music had shone a light at grassroots level, but called for more support for smaller venues.<\/p>\n

Sunderland Music City CEO Michelle Daurat said events throughout the year had tried to expose people to different music genres and development sessions had also been offered to aspiring musicians.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a really varied, exciting, vibrant year and the people of Sunderland have really embraced it and I think they feel very proud of their city and what we’re able to achieve,” she added.<\/p>\n

The Year of Music has featured events, gigs and workshops.<\/p>\n

It also saw 174 pianists come together in December in a bid to break the world record<\/a> for the largest number of people playing a piano in relay – which Daurat said had been one of her highlights.<\/p>\n

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