Music Commission News

Girls Rock Aotearoa has been inspiring women, trans, takatāpui, intersex, gender diverse and queer youth aged 12-17 to form bands, build instrumental skills, and write original songs since 2018. We’re proud to announce that as well as bringing To the Front back to Pōneke for 2024, Kirikiriroa will be hosting their very first music holiday programme.

KIRIKIRIROA

The first-ever To The Front Kirikiriroa holiday programme is coming to Hamilton in the school holidays of July 2024. Born from Girls Rock Aotearoa in 2017, the gender-inclusive music development programme encourages young women, trans, intersex, takatāpui, queer and gender diverse youth to embrace their creativity in a supportive space.

Running from 15 – 19 July 2024 and hosted at Wintec Te Pūkenga School of Media Arts, Music and Performing Arts Department, the holiday programme includes daily instrument practice, where the attendees form ‘bands’ together for the week with the aim to perform a live showcase on the final day. They’ll participate in group workshops such as stage craft, recording audio, music videos, DIY merchandise, zine making and more – while being treated to lunch time performances by exciting artists from the New Zealand music industry.

Find out more about the Kirikiriroa programme here.

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! Apply to attend as a youth participant, mentor or volunteer. Apply as a youth participant here or a mentor/volunteer here.

WANT TO SUPPORT KIRIKIRIROA?

There are two ways you can support Kirikiriroa to reach their funding goals!

1 – Attend their all-ages fundraising gig at The Yard, Raglan on March 14 (details here).
2 – Purchase a raffle ticket for a chance to win some amazing prizes (including music gear)!

This fundraising raffle has a ton of amazing prizes from our generous sponsors: Ableton, Firehorse FX, Music Planet, Synthstrom Audible, Last Place Bar, Raglan Coconut Yoghurt, local record stores, artists and more.

Raffle prize winners will be drawn and notified in April. Enter the Kirikiriroa raffle here.

PŌNEKE

Running from Monday the 8th of July to Saturday the 13th, To The Front is open to youth aged 12-17 years who are women, intersex, trans, takatāpui and gender diverse. They’ll learn instruments, form bands, write original songs, and perform at a showcase, all guided by professional musicians in a women-led environment. Alongside collaborative learning, participants will take part in workshops about DIY merchandise, songwriting and performance skills. Each day they’ll enjoy lunchtime performances from local artists. The week will be held at Massey Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts Wellington.

Apply to attend as a youth participant, mentor or volunteer. Apply as a youth participant here or a mentor/volunteer here.

Pathways Programme

If you’ve already been a part of Girls Rock/To The Front and want to challenge yourself to try something new, we’re looking for 16-19 year-olds to be a part of our Pathways programme, developing our next generation of To The Front organisers. As well as helping out coordinators with day-to-day operations at the programme, you’ll participate in specialty workshops illuminating paths for music beyond high school, form a Pathways band to perform at our showcase, and develop new networks by getting to know our coordinators, mentors, and your Pathways peers.

Apply for Pathways here.

To the Front is a paid school holiday programme with some sponsorship placements available. Please see our website girlsrock.co.nz for more information.

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Girls Rock Aotearoa is proudly supported by The New Zealand Music Commission, Massey University, SAE, Wellington City Council, Auckland UNESCO City of Music, Foundation North, Creative Sounds Society, Recorded Music NZ, APRA AMCOS NZ, Central Energy Trust, The Stomach, Wellington City Creative NZ, Next Gen and Manatū Taonga.