Good news for SOUNZ Centre for NZ Music

Good news for SOUNZ Centre for NZ Music

SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music Trust was awarded a total of $900,000 in Creative New Zealand’s latest round of investment funding announced last week. The funds from Toi Tōtara Haemata (Arts Leadership) investment programme are earmarked to assist the creation, presentation and distribution of New Zealand music through the provision of specific infrastructure services over the next three years.

SOUNZ is honoured and delighted to take up the challenge in this new leadership role providing infrastructure support for New Zealand music. Julie Sperring, Executive Director, says, "SOUNZ is extremely grateful to Creative New Zealand for this renewed and extended support. Establishing this new role is a bold step towards increasing the promotion of New Zealand music to wider and more diverse audiences."

Elizabeth Kerr, Chair of SOUNZ Board of Trustees, says, "We are really looking forward to putting in place some of the ideas that came out of the planning for this new role. Developing SOUNZ’s activities to reflect the breadth of creativity and talent of our musical artists is a very exciting prospect. Our new role enables us to do this through building connections between composers, artists and presenters in new ways and in new places for new audiences."

More than $27 million over three years has been offered to 40 arts organisations throughout the country in the first funding decisions made by the new Arts Council, which came into effect on 1 May this year. Arts Council Chairman, Dr Dick Grant says the investment funding decisions support the heart of New Zealand’s arts and culture.

The Toi Uru Kahikatea (Arts Development) and Toi Tōtara Haemata (Arts Leadership) investment programmes provide funding for up to three or five years to support continuous programmes of arts activity and infrastructure. Seven investments were awarded totalling $15.4 million over the next three years within Toi Tōtara Haemata programme, providing funding for organisations to fill specific key roles in creating, presenting, distributing or encouraging participation in high-quality New Zealand arts experiences.

SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music champions the music of Aotearoa/New Zealand by collecting and curating resources, connecting them with audiences and collaborating with partners towards shared goals.

Julie Sperring continues, “New music is created constantly across Aotearoa in varied situations and it deserves a chance to be heard, developed and shared. It expresses our cultural identity and is a crucial part of the framework of cultural sustainability. SOUNZ is proud to provide services that champion and support this vibrant New Zealand art form as we move into this new phase of our organisational development.”

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