Rotorua arts promoter Ian Edward has a vision - for Rotorua to become the next Nashville or Tamworth.
Nashville in the United States is known as the centre of music and Tamworth in New South Wales is the country music capital of Australia.
Mr Edward said Rotorua was looking out for new industries and opportunities, and there was no reason why Rotorua could not become a music city.
"I can't help but think that there are business opportunities that exist through music that are just waiting to be tapped in Rotorua. There are cities around the world that have made a whole industry out of the arts. They have everything from festivals to tourism to recording industries," Mr Edward said.
"The infrastructure is all here. It's just the leadership that is required to make it happen."
His passion for the arts and subsequent efforts to ensure Rotorua benefits from those arts resulted in him receiving recognition at the recent Rotorua Community Leadership Awards.
He has led many organisations in a chairmanship role, including Rotorua Competitions Society and Lakeside Concert Charitable Trust, and has also played a leading role for more than 20 years in the New Zealand Aria (formerly Lockwood Aria).
Mr Edward has been a strong supporter of the Rotorua Boys' and Girls' High Schools productions. He has helped secure many musical events, bringing top artists and performers to Rotorua. The most recent of these was Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's recital - her sole public performance in New Zealand this year.
Mr Edward said his vision for the lakeside concert and the aria came out of adversity. "I ran into the sharemarket crash of 1987. Rotorua became a very sad city in the late 1980s, early 1990s. Unemployment was high and my business got caught up in the change so I had to rebuild my business."
As well as rebuilding his pharmacy, Mr Edward began heading to Hamilton once a week.
"I figured I had to get my head in the right space to deal with the change. I travelled once a week to Hamilton for a singing lesson to recharge my batteries. What I found was that the country had all these talented young people with very few opportunities to perform and show their skills."
After watching a video of the Singer of the World competition in Cardiff, the Lockwood Aria as it was then known was born in 1993 followed by the annual lakeside concerts which began in 1997.
Another more recent highlight has been singing with three of his brothers, which resulted in the formation of The Edward Brothers.
"The ultimate satisfaction is singing with my bros. We do it for our pleasure. If others enjoy it then that's a great bonus."