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Cenovia Cummins

Cenovia Cummins

Photo: Louise Owen

Feature
A Closer Look At Broadway Pit Musicians pit-players-meet-musicians-behind-broadways-biggest-shows

Pit Players: Meet The Musicians Behind Broadway's Biggest Shows

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From drums and guitar to cello and oboe, come down to the pit to meet the music masters making the biggest Broadway shows come to life
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 30, 2018 - 4:12 pm

The stage door opens onto 44th Street and a smiling face invites me inside. We begin to expertly navigate the intricate backstage hallways of New York City's Broadhurst Theatre when he says, "Musicians always know where to go. They go down."

The welcoming man behind the smiling face is Rick Heckman, a long-time Broadway pit musician. Heckman currently covers six different instruments, including oboe, saxophone and flute, as part of the band for "Anastasia."

"People of my generation didn't usually set out to become Broadway musicians," says Heckman. "When I started it was studio work, concerts, whatever … but Broadway is obviously a big industry here in New York, so that's where I ended up. I still do all those other things but Broadway is my primary source of income."

The Broadway "pit" is usually located beneath the stage, either open to the theater or in a separate room, and is actually a great place for musicians to make a living — if they can cut it. Cenovia Cummins, an accomplished violinist and current concertmaster for the Broadway revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel," says she was initially attracted to Broadway for "the stability of a weekly paycheck, health benefits and pension."

Ben Cohn
Broadway Pit Players: A Closer Look

Despite their obstructed view, the musicians that play in the pit on Broadway surely provide the soundtrack to some of the biggest — and highest grossing — live shows on earth. In fact, Broadway box offices brought in a robust $1.6 billion in 2017.

"Musicians are crucial to the success of any Broadway musical," says Kathy Sommer, composer, conductor, music director, player, and veteran of many hit Broadway shows. "Live music helps to create the universe where the drama can exist fully, giving added dimension and heightening the emotional stakes of the piece."  

The bands creating that live energy consist of some of New York's most talented and accomplished musicians, like Larry Lelli, a drummer who has not only done over 40 Broadway productions but professionally performed in almost any musical style and format you can name. While each instrument in the pit brings its own challenges, the band's feel often hinges on the drums.

"A drummer on Broadway must give the impression and illusion that they are in charge, but in reality they are following the music director/conductor measure by measure, translating their instructions and cues into intelligible musical choices applied to the drum set," Lelli says, "which then inform and inspire the rest of the orchestra on their performance."

Cellist Emily Brausa, a Julliard School grad who currently plays on "SpongeBob SquarePants," confirms that Broadway brings a special emphasis to playing on the beat that can be challenging for even master musicians.

"I came from a classical background," says Brausa, "and I always listened to all types of music, but what was new for me was how on the beat it is. At classical concerts, you'll notice it doesn't seem like the sound is coming at the same time as the conductor's motions. There's a little bit more breathing room. There's so many things at play [on Broadway] — the choreography, a click track … so everything is right on the beat, which was a learning [experience] for me."

"I think the number one thing is being a solid player – knowing the different styles you're working in, having good time, and being a good collaborator." — Ben Cohn

If executing "the book," as the music for a Broadway play is called, isn't hard enough, there's a lot more to playing in the pit than just playing.

"At '[Book Of] Mormon' for instance, there's electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and nylon string guitar, I'm playing all three in the same show — sometimes in the same song," says guitarist Aurélien Budynek. "You have to learn the parts and how to navigate your way through the charts, the music, the dynamics, all that stuff. But you also have to learn at what moment to turn on the overdrive and turn it off. And the flanger, then the chorus, the wah pedal, then put away the electric guitar and grab the acoustic … this is almost like choreography for me."

Once these proficient players get down the music and the mechanics of all the transitions, playing a show can become second nature, which introduces a new obstacle.

"The challenge is how to keep that music entirely fresh and energetic, just as it was on opening night," says Lelli. "You don't really have the energy of the audience to feed off of any longer, as most orchestras are hidden in a mostly covered orchestra pit on most shows, these days, if not hidden from the audience view entirely. But those 1,500 people who are coming to see that show for the very first time, and paid a lot of money to do so, deserve to hear that score performed with the energy and excitement of opening night. They don't care if you have played it 3,000 times by now."

You read that right. A total of 3,000 shows is not unheard of due to Broadway's breakneck schedule.

"I show up to the pit and love to create live theater so much, and I bring my joy to that orchestra pit every single show.  I never phone it in.  And that's the trick to playing on Broadway." — Larry Lelli

"We have eight shows, that's a normal Broadway week," explains Heckman. "We have two shows on Wednesday and Saturday, Monday off, and Sunday matinee but no evening show. We take off personal days, and we take off days to do other gigs."

In fact, taking days off and the substitute system is an integral part of the Broadway scene, serving not only to protect musicians from going stale but to foster up-and-coming players and create networking opportunities.

"The path a lot of people take is you start subbing," says Brausa. "Most of the [shows] you don't audition for — it's word-of-mouth. Does this person show up on time? Does this person play well? Is this person pleasant to be around? I probably subbed for six years before I got my own show."

"We've all been subs at one time or another, and will be again," adds Heckman. "When somebody asks you to sub, they'll send you a PDF copy of the book, you also get a pit recording of the show … and sometimes they'll make a conductor video, so this way the sub can really practice at home, and it's like they've done the show already by the time they've gotten here."

While it's not uncommon for players to sub on multiple shows at once, the real trick is maintaining consistency as the band's lineup changes.

"The four shows I subbed on last week were 'School Of Rock,' 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'Book Of Mormon,' and 'Hamilton,'" says Budynek. "When you're a sub, it's not about your personality. You have to copy the personality of the player you're subbing for, because the band and the actors do the show eight times a week and they're used to hearing something very specific and if you take too many liberties it might throw them off."

"I love being a part of something bigger, a show, where it's not just an orchestra sitting onstage that you're watching. You're contributing to something more theatrical." — Emily Brausa

The concept of bouncing from show to show may seem daunting, but according to keyboardist and conductor Ben Cohn, who spent 10 years on "Wicked" before landing the gig as conductor for "Dear Evan Hansen," the sub system is really about support and growth.

"The band is responsible for bringing in their own subs, training them, and making sure they're 100% ready for the show," explains Cohn. "I've made it clear to the band that I don't want 'Dear Evan Hansen' to be the kind of situation where the sub comes in and they're on trial when they're here. We do everything we can to support them and make them feel comfortable and be helpful … we give them every opportunity to fit in and do a great job."

Ultimately, with so many talented players lurking in the Big Apple, working on Broadway as a pit musician comes down to the intangibles, such as personality.

"The contractors and music directors want to hire people who are professional, respectful and generally want to be there and get along easily with other people," says Lelli. "No one teaches you that kind of stuff in school."

No doubt, the diverse set of talented personalities that are required to produce a Broadway show — from actors to production hands on down to the musicians — can be likened to that of a film project. But what truly sets the Broadway experience apart from other forms of entertainment is the immediacy in the room, the power of the narrative coming to life, and the electricity of a live performance — something Hollywood can't replicate in the movies.

"The level of focus is so high on all the Broadway shows I've done," says Budynek. "Once it starts it feels like there's nothing more important than the show we're about to play, and we've got to give it 500 percent. [It's] inspiring to be a part of that and in that circle of like-minded people and take pride in what you do."

"Pit musicians do an extraordinarily precise and specialized job," says Sommer, who is also vice president of the Recording Academy New York Chapter board and chair of its musical theater Chapter Committee. "What's good for theater is good for the musicians. We're all part of the same community."

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Brandon Victor Dixon

Brandon Victor Dixon

Photo: Courtesy of Brandon Victor Dixon

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Brandon Victor Dixon On Music & Philanthropy brandon-victor-dixon-jesus-christ-superstar-john-legend-we-are-new-single

Brandon Victor Dixon On "Jesus Christ Superstar," John Legend & "We Are" New Single

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Judas from "Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert" opens up about working on one of the year's most-lauded TV specials and his new platform to marry music with making a difference
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
May 11, 2018 - 5:22 am

When "Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert" aired on April 1, fans of both the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical and its modern all-star cast rejoiced. While viewers recognized the marquee recording artists who appeared, for many it was Judas who stole the show. The man behind that role? Brandon Victor Dixon, an accomplished actor and two-time Tony and GRAMMY nominee who has just released his first single, the uplifting and unifying "We Are."

Originally from Washington, D.C., Dixon has performed on Broadway in "The Color Purple" and "Hamilton," on television in "One Life To Live" and "Law & Order," and on stages from Los Angeles to New York to London. A true Renaissance man, Dixon formed his own production company two years ago to develop film and TV content. But his arrival as a recording artist is anything other than your typical stage-to-stereo crossover, and "We Are" is much more than a mere single.

"I'm not necessarily building a recording career," says Dixon. "I'm a very philanthropically oriented individual. There are a lot of causes that I support, and I'm a big fan of advocacy. In this day and age, I feel like if you're not advocating for somebody or something then you have to ask yourself what you're doing. I feel like the more we speak for and support others, the less we'll have to worry about speaking for and supporting ourselves."

To that end, "We Are" represents a message of equality and compassion Dixon hopes to share with the world. The song originated when fellow actor Daniel J. Watts asked Dixon to write something to go along with a performance he was doing at a benefit event. Dixon crafted the hook and the rest fell into place with the help of South African producer Greg Dean Borowsky.

Next, Dixon walked the walk and chose Young New Yorkers, an organization aimed at enrolling sentenced juveniles in arts programs instead of sending them to jail, as the beneficiary of the single's proceeds.

"It's creating the #WeAre movement and the song is really designed to get people to remember that there's no you without me, there's no me without you and remember that, at one point, we knew how close we were as human beings together on this planet," says Dixon. "This first movement and this first song is about children, and the children that are caught up in our for-profit justice system."

Brandon Victor Dixon #WeAre

Dixon speaks passionately about several different philanthropic efforts, including mass incarceration, gun control, LGBTQ issues, racial equality, and feminism. Music provides him with an avenue to reach people and advocate for these causes.

"I started writing music over the last couple years, particularly when I was doing 'Motown.' I started to connect with people in the music industry, and Ryan Shaw, who played Stevie Wonder in that show, and I started working on some projects together," says Dixon. "Then this year, coming off of 'Hamilton' and going into 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' I just felt it was time to start putting out some music."

Dixon's "… Superstar" experience put him shoulder to shoulder onstage and in living rooms around the world with GRAMMY winners such as John Legend.

"It was really awesome to see someone like John … voluntarily step out into a slightly more foreign territory and be just as dedicated and giving of himself and, beyond that, to stretch forward to drive himself into a new creative territory," Dixon says. "You don't see that in everybody who is established and comfortable with what they've built.

"He was excited by all the wonderful work happening around him. John produced it, and he was very proud and excited about the overall project and the reaction to it."

Dixon's breakout performances of "Heaven On Their Minds," "Superstar" and "The Last Supper," a pivotal confrontation with Legend, introduced him to a whole new audience. While he cites Sara Bareilles' beautiful rendition of "I Don't Know How To Love Him" as among his personal highlights, choosing his top moment of the night comes easy.

"Coming out in a bedazzled tank top and silver jeans and singing 'Superstar' with a 36-piece band and 28 dancers around me is one of the dopest things I've ever had the opportunity to do," says Dixon.

The adrenaline rush of taking the stage was no doubt magnified by the performance being broadcast live on television. Though  Dixon's initial approach to his role as Judas and the show was not unlike his prior work on Broadway, the live filming element added another layer of technical wrinkles.

"We want everybody at home to feel what we're doing live in the arena, and it seems like they really succeeded at that," says Dixon. "The storytelling and the heart came through, and that's largely because of the technical ability of the group we had around us."

The hard work was worth it, as the show Dixon calls "a permanent part of our cultural artistic fabric" made a huge splash with TV audiences, spurring a host of acclaim from critics and the public alike.

"I think the best thing somebody said to me was, 'The way you portrayed Judas and the way this production told the story, it makes me think about the world around me in a very different way,'" says Dixon. "That's moving for me, because, for this show, you walk into it labeling Judas as a villain, and evil and bad, and the goal for me was to strive to make people feel differently about someone they thought they knew. And hopefully that will translate to the real world where you can think differently about people around you that you think you know … maybe even help you think a little differently about yourself."

Brandon Victor Dixon "We Are"

With so much under his belt already as an entertainer, it's clear Dixon's true purpose moving forward is all about enacting positive change, a daunting task for any artist. Naturally, maintaining a balance is also important.

When he's not onstage or in the studio, Dixon says he can be found playing pickup soccer in New York City or snagging a stack of comic books and a bag of Twizzlers to unwind. But he's quick to assure us more music and videos are in the works, all aimed at showing the world we are one.

"My message is very democratic, so hopefully that's the spirit in which people will receive it and will feel happy to share it."

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David Bowie Is Exhibit at Brooklyn Museum

David Bowie Is Exhibit

Photo: Courtesy of Brooklyn Museum

Feature
Inside David Bowie Is At The Brooklyn Museum david-bowie-takes-over-new-york-david-bowie-exhibit

David Bowie Takes Over New York With David Bowie Is Exhibit

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Exhibition offers the chance to walk through the history of one of the most inventive and original artists of all time
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 30, 2018 - 5:07 pm

"There's old music, there's new music, and there's David Bowie."

Even two years after his death, David Bowie's presence is palpable in New York City. This is evidenced by recent subway installations and collectable metrocards as well as the upcoming production of Bowie's stage musical "Lazarus" at the Kings Theatre. But nowhere is his legacy more celebrated than the incredible David Bowie Is exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.

As you step inside the museum's exhibit and slip the provided headphones over your ears, you're transported into Bowie's world, where creativity is king and anything seems possible. The welcome display features his Tokyo Pop bodysuit against a stark black backdrop beneath "BOWIE" written in lights that appear to brighten as you approach. The headphones are on sensors and play different music and sound depending on where you're standing in the exhibit, giving the experience a personalized feel from the downbeat.

The journey begins with Davie Jones, as Bowie was originally named. From relics of his childhood in Brixton, London, such as the photo of Little Richard he held sacred as a kid, to his early paintings and drawing, to BBC footage of a 1964 interview about his newly formed Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Long-Haired Men, the exhibit shows the makings of a creative mastermind.

Jones played with the Konrads, the King Bees and Lower Third before releasing his first single as David Bowie with the Lower Third in 1965: "Can't Help Thinking About Me," which is on display in its original 7-inch, 45rpm form.

David Bowie Is Exhibit At Brooklyn Museum
David Bowie Is Exhibit At Brooklyn Museum

The exhibit then funnels through some keepsakes from Bowie's 1967 self-titled debut album into a space devoted to his 1969 single, "Space Oddity." Bowie launched his career in earnest and the character of astronaut Major Tom with "Space Oddity," which was released just days before the famous Apollo 11 mission launched. Bowie's play on Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey dovetailed perfectly into the public's fascination with space travel and the song became breakout hit.

Back in Brooklyn, the homage to "Space Oddity" is complete with the original music video playing on a big screen next to Bowie's costumes from the era. As the song throbs in the headphones, you really feel you're witnessing the beginning of something special. The exhibit walls bear the theme in its title, "David Bowie is floating in a most peculiar way," and the lyric, "Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do," reminds visitors how timeless and clever Bowie has been since the beginning.

The sprawling exhibit also explores many of Bowie's endeavors and reinventions with fantastic mirrored video installations, original drawings and paintings, lyric sheets and postcards, and lots of music. Of the many vibrant costume displays, Bowie's ice blue "Life On Mars?" suit stands out, having its own room where visitors can watch the music video, ponder the song's superhuman chord progression and cathartic melody, all while staring at the original getup Bowie wore during the shoot.

The far end of David Bowie Is invites guests to remove their headphones and enter a special screening room engulfed in live performance videos. The footage is culled from what started as Bowie's 1974 Diamond Dogs Tour, which was described by one writer for U.K. publication Melody Maker as "the most original spectacle in rock" and "a combination of contemporary music and theater … several years ahead of its time."

The ambitious tour full of theatrical visuals took a slightly new direction after Bowie broke for two months to record 1975's Young Americans in Philadelphia, and returned without the elaborate set and a revised set list. It became The Soul Tour, sometimes referred to as "Philly Dogs." Footage from the Philadelphia show plays for the first time ever in this exhibition, and Bowie's commanding presence as a performer is inescapable as the video screens wrap around you.

https://twitter.com/brooklynmuseum/status/969629210758336513

The wait is officially over! We’re so excited to welcome #davidbowieisbkm ticketholders to enjoy a complete audiovisual experience into Bowie’s personal archive through more than 500 objects from across his five-decade long career. https://t.co/G3cF0MSryY pic.twitter.com/kJliAMLEk8

— Brooklyn Museum (@brooklynmuseum) March 2, 2018

For studio rats, a can't-miss fixture of the exhibit is the EMS Synthi AKS synthesizer Bowie used heavily during what Bowie called his "Berlin triptych," the three albums recorded after Bowie moved to Berlin: 1977's Low and Heroes and 1979's Lodger. The instrument was used to create some of the most groundbreaking sounds Bowie introduced at the time, and to stand up close to the actual unit is a powerful experience for tech-heads with a sonic sweet tooth.

True to its subject, the exhibit definitely has some rather unusual items on display. Take the "Verbaliser," for example, a computer program Bowie developed in the 1990s that chops up sentences into columns and scrambles them to create, as Bowie told it, "a kaleidoscope of meanings, and topics, and nouns, and verbs all sort of slamming into each other."

Of course, the exhibit features equally inspiring displays surrounding Bowie's most well-known projects such as his 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars and the 1986 film Labyrinth, as well as artifacts from his memorable stage performance of "The Elephant Man."

In the darkest room of the exhibit, visitors can watch some of Bowie's buried treasure music videos such as the gorgeous "Thursday's Child" and the edgy "Little Wonder." There are also strange yet fun souvenirs, such as a tissue blotted with Bowie's lipstick from 1974 and a postcard from Elvis Presley sent to Bowie in 1976 during his tour in support of Station To Station, which wished him a good show.

David Bowie Is works as both a visually and aurally stunning representation of the boundless creativity that lived inside Bowie, right up to his final days. The exhibit's final room deals with pieces from his final GRAMMY-winning album, 2016's Blackstar, which was released just two days before his death. Considering how fresh and inventive the material on Blackstar sounds, there's no telling what the artistic boy from Brixton still had in his head and heart to share with the world.

A must-see for music fans in NYC, David Bowie Is will remain on display at the Brooklyn Museum through June 15. Tickets and other information can be found via the museum's website.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images

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Lin-Manuel Miranda Unleashes Latest Hamildrop lin-manuel-miranda-delivers-latest-hamildrop-first-burn

Lin-Manuel Miranda Delivers Latest Hamildrop With "First Burn"

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The soulful song features five singers who have played the role of Eliza on the smash hit Broadway show "Hamilton"
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 30, 2018 - 7:40 am

Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" is truly the Broadway show that keeps on giving. After opening in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre last August and charting on the Billboard Hot 100 last month with "Found/Tonight" featuring Ben Platt, Miranda is back with this month's #Hamildrop, "Slow Burn,​" a first draft of the "Hamilton" track "Burn."

https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/990803338366242816

Your April #Hamildrop: First Burn.
The first draft of Burn, sung by 5 Elizas. Enjoy. #FirstBurn https://t.co/oPttHGxXGl pic.twitter.com/2WJJc3Jfmx

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 30, 2018

"Slow Burn" features five stellar vocalists who have all played the role of Eliza in "Hamilton" across the U.S. and U.K., Arianna Afsar, Julia Harriman, Lexi Lawson, Rachelle Ann Go and Shoba Narayan.

In addition to the five singers, there is no shortage of talent behind the production and arrangement of "First Burn." The song was produced by GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer Mike Elizondo and arranged by the show's GRAMMY- and Tony-winning orchestrator and musical director, Alex Lacamoire.

'Hamilton' wins Best Musical Theater Album

Miranda's Hamilton won the GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album at the 58th GRAMMY Awards, and Miranda picked up his second career win for Best Song Written For Visual Media for "How Far I'll Go" from Moana: The Songs earlier this year at the 60th GRAMMY Awards.

"Hamilton" is currently playing on Broadway in New York City and running in London and Chicago, as well as on tour across the U.S. Visit the show's website for a full list of dates.

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GRAMMYs

Hero The Band perform at the Recording Academy Atlanta Chapter Annual Membership Celebration
Photo: Marcus Ingram/WireImage

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Report: Music & Culture In "Future Cities" report-music-culture-infrastructure-can-create-better-future-cities

Report: Music & Culture Infrastructure Can Create Better "Future Cities"

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How sound planning for a creative future in our urban areas makes all the difference for artists and musicians
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Oct 23, 2019 - 2:27 pm

The future, as they say, is now. And for music makers around the world, building a future for themselves often starts at home, in their local creative community and in the city where they live. While technology has expanded communication and made the world smaller, cities continue to grow, making planning for the future a critical cultural mission of the present.

To that end, a new report by global organization Sound Diplomacy titled "This Must Be The Place" examines, "The role of music and cultural infrastructure in creating better future cities for all of us." The 37-page deep dive into community planning and development highlights the importance of creative culture in what it calls "Future Cities."

"The government defines ‘Future Cities’ as 'a term used to imagine what cities themselves will be like," the report states, "how they will operate, what systems will orchestrate them and how they will relate to their stakeholders (citizens, governments, businesses, investors, and others),'"

According to the report, only three global cities or states currently have cultural infrastructure plans: London, Amsterdam and New South Wales. This fact may be surprising considering how city planning and sustainability have become part of the discussion on development of urban areas, where the UN estimates 68 percent of people will live by 2050.

"Our future places must look at music and culture ecologically. Much like the way a building is an ecosystem, so is a community of creators, makers, consumers and disseminators," the report says. "The manner in which we understand how to maintain a building is not translated to protecting, preserving and promoting music and culture in communities."

The comparison and interaction between the intangibility of culture and the presence of physical space is an ongoing theme throughout the report. For instance, one section of the report outlines how buildings can and should be designed to fit the cultural needs of the neighborhoods they populate, as too often, use of a commercial space is considered during the leasing process, not the construction process, leading to costly renovations.

"All future cities are creative cities. All future cities are music cities."

On the residential side, as cities grow denser, the need increases for thoughtful acoustic design and sufficient sound isolation. Future cities can and should be places where people congregate

"If we don’t design and build our future cities to facilitate and welcome music and experience, we lose what makes them worth living in."

For musicians and artists of all mediums, the answer to making—and keeping—their cities worth living in boils down to considering their needs, impact and value more carefully and sooner in the planning process.

"The report argues that property is no longer an asset business, but one built on facilitating platforms for congregation, community and cohesion," it says. "By using music and culture at the beginning of the development process and incorporating it across the value chain from bid to design, meanwhile to construction, activation to commercialisation, this thinking and practice will result in better places."

The report offers examples of how planners and leaders are handling this from around the world. For instance, the Mayor Of London Night Czar, who helps ensure safety and nighttime infrastructure for venues toward the Mayor's Vision for London as a 24-hour city. Stateside, Pittsburgh, Penn., also has a Night Mayor in place to support and inform the growth of its creative class.

What is a music ecosystem? We believe the music influences and interacts with various sectors in a city. We have designed this infographic to show how music ecosystems work and impact cities, towns and places: https://t.co/0DIUpN1Dll

— Sound Diplomacy (@SoundDiplomacy) August 14, 2019

Diversity, inclusion, health and well-being also factor into the reports comprehensive look at how music and culture are every bit as important as conventional business, ergonomic and environmental considerations in Future Cites. Using the Queensland Chamber of Arts and Culture as a reference, it declared, "A Chamber of Culture is as important as a Chamber of Commerce."

In the end, the report serves as a beacon of light for governments, organizations, businesses and individuals involved in planning and developing future cities. Its core principals lay out guideposts for building friendly places to music and culture and are backed with case studies and recommendations. But perhaps the key to this progress is in changing how we approach the use of space itself, as the answer to supporting music may be found in how we look at the spaces we inhabit.

"To develop better cities, towns and places, we must alter the way we think about development, and place music and culture alongside design, viability, construction and customer experience," it says. "Buildings must be treated as platforms, not assets. We must explore mixed‑use within mixed‑use, so a floor of a building, or a lesser‑value ground floor unit can have multiple solutions for multiple communities."

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