Help our youth to lead change through music

Imagine a youth music gathering, where 30 young musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds congregate at the Piritahi Marae on Waiheke Island for a week to engage in wānanga, exchange and creation of music. Welcome to Ethno NZ.

Our programme addresses the need for more social and community cohesion to keep New Zealand prosperous, open and collaborative. We know that people in our diverse communities don’t always have the opportunity to connect. We also know from experience that Te Ao Māori provides a safe and strong foundation for intercultural dialogue - young people from diverse backgrounds building lasting friendships.

With the support and mentorship of our dedicated team, pathways are created to share, learn from and create with traditional musicians from many other cultures both within Aotearoa and from overseas. Young people leave the experience with newfound confidence, skills and networks to unlock possibilities for themselves nationally and internationally.

At the end of the gathering, rangatahi will perform in three public concerts, the biggest of which will be at the Auckland Folk Festival. This is a true gift to the wider community to see these young people play.

We are raising $10k to provide scholarships to enable equitable access to our programme as well as for our dedicated team, who need to have some of their costs covered.

To make all this happen we need your support.

Please support our kaupapa by donating what you can and by spreading the word far and wide.