There is immeasurable talent of all ages in Ōtautahi who are unable to further their skills and find it difficult to access the music industry to develop their craft.
Our mission at Hearing Now is to collaborate with organizations to connect under-privileged rangatahi with the musical resources they need to prosper. We aim to remove counter-productive measures and industry bias, enabling our young minds to speak and be heard as they are, right here and now.
Identity and culture are at the core of Hearing Now – the programme will be provided for rangatahi at secondary school level, which we understand is one of the most transformational periods in a young person’s life. We believe in embracing youth for who they are, being malleable for specific requirements and aspirations, and empowering them to be independent.
Ultimately, our aim is to build sustainable careers for young creatives in our music sector and we begin with two key practical goals:
- Engage with individual participants in a studio setting to create new musical works
This will be done at SALTBOX studios by respected industry professionals, including both audio engineers and session musicians, guiding young artists towards their aspirations and bringing their musical vision to fruition. Sustaining the integrity of their vision throughout this process is an integral part of the Hearing Now program.
- Give rangatahi the skills and knowledge required to support and sustain their musical careers
This will involve both one-on-one and group sessions including learning subjects such as technical practices, audio engineering theory, music business and the creation/distribution process. Our focus will be on subject matter most relevant to the participants, concentrating on the skill and knowledge sets that will really make a difference for their future careers.
SALTBOX Studio and RDU 98.5FM are looking for partners to connect with the Hearing Now program. We are interested in collaborating with both educational and non-educational organisations that have established relationships with rangatahi at the secondary school level. This may include schools, youth development groups or pre-existing music programmes that may require additional resources to elevate their students’ work. It is important that Hearing Now is easily accessible to our community, so we are open to collaborations with a wide range of organisations.
If you are interested in partnering or assisting with Hearing Now, please reach out to:
callan@rdu.org.nz – all questions are welcome.