(Johannesburg, June) – A South African initiative that has spent more than a decade helping artists tour, strengthening local venues, and growing live music communities across the region has received one of the global music industry’s highest honours.
Concerts SA and IKS Cultural Consulting were named winners of the Best Placemaking Initiative category at the 2026 Music Cities Awards, held during the Music Cities Convention in Hull, United Kingdom.
For project founder and cultural strategist André Le Roux, receiving the award was a reminder of how far the initiative has come. “There’s a piece of graffiti near the entrance to the Adelphi Club in Hull that reads, ‘You’ve come a long way, baby.’ That resonated deeply,” says Le Roux. “It’s been a long journey, not just the flight from South Africa, but the work of keeping a live music development project alive for more than a decade. This award belongs to the thousands of South African artists, venues, promoters, festivals, and cultural workers who trusted this project with their livelihoods and their art. We accept it with humility, gratitude, and a renewed commitment to building sustainable live music ecosystems across Southern Africa.”
Presented by Sound Diplomacy, the awards recognise innovative projects from around the world that use music and culture to strengthen cities, communities, and local economies.
For Concerts SA, the award acknowledges thirteen years of work supporting artists, venues, promoters, festivals, and cultural workers throughout South Africa and Southern Africa.
Founded in 2013 with support from the British Council, Concerts SA started as a modest mobility fund designed to help musicians travel and perform. Since then, it has grown into one of Africa’s most influential live music development initiatives.
Over the years, the project has:
• Supported more than 29,000 artists and music-sector practitioners
• Worked across all nine South African provinces and 11 Southern African countries
• Helped activate and strengthen more than 2,000 venues, festivals, and community spaces
• Invested in artist mobility, audience development, research, skills training, and music-sector sustainability
• Contributed to some of South Africa’s earliest research into the night-time economy and the role of culture in urban development
The moment carried particular significance for the team. In 2012, a small South African delegation travelled to The Great Escape festival in Brighton through support facilitated by the British Council. Fourteen years later, the project returned to the United Kingdom to receive international recognition for the impact of its work.
The award also builds on a strong track record of international recognition. In 2019, Concert for Refugees, a project delivered in partnership with the Turquoise Harmony Institute, received the UN Pioneers in SDGs Project Stakeholders Award during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The project has also garnered two Business and Arts South Africa Awards.
Today, Concerts SA continues its work through programmes such as the Festival Enterprise Catalyst (FEC), supported by the South African National Treasury’s Jobs Fund and Pro Helvetia.
The organisations also paid tribute to founding partners SAMRO and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria, as well as the many individuals who have helped shape the project over the years, including project managers Nailla Dollie and Violet Maila, research lead Gwen Ansell, and team members James French, Christine Msibi, and Lesego Maforah.
SAMRO Chief Executive Officer Annabell Lebethe says the programme remains a vital part of the organisation’s commitment to supporting South Africa’s creative economy and cultural diplomacy.
“Concerts SA continues to play an important role in supporting small and micro-enterprises within the creative sector. By investing in artist mobility and live performance opportunities, the programme has helped create meaningful sustainability in the live music industry for more than a decade. We are incredibly proud to support a project that continues to uplift composers, musicians, and the wider music ecosystem.”
For Concerts SA and IKS Cultural Consulting, the award is ultimately a reminder of a simple belief that has guided the project since its inception: live music is about much more than entertainment. It creates opportunities, strengthens communities, and brings people together in ways few other things can.
