Kotuku Rising

 Kotuku Choir, founded by Sharon Thorburn in May 2005, was officially launched by Kerry Prendergast, Mayor of Wellington, in April 2006.  Kotuku's Music Academy Support Trust is a fully registered Charitable Trust.

​KOTAHITANGA – TOGETHER we began creating a structure, a foundation to transform lives, one at a time.

Founding vision. To grow New Zealand children into confident young leaders, young ambassadors, regardless of their backgrounds, able to collectively and uniquely represent the peoples of Aotearoa through the performing arts, able to embrace and celebrate our rich diversity of culture, able to give back to the nation who has raised them.

"I am free from my addictions and I am now able to work and mentor other people. Kotuku has given me the chance to do things I would never have dreamed: to reach out to others who live the life I have lived – I want to make a difference, to help others achieve more out of life rather than gangs and drug abuse."

Was it easy, this journey of establishing Kotuku? Can you put a diverse mix of children, youth and families together and expect that they will rise beyond prejudice to accept, respect, cooperate and learn from each other? Can you reach the child among them whose only certainty is that the world is not a safe place? Can this child even find the courage to feel, to express that feeling and to allow their own voice to be heard, let alone manage to sing with others in unity?

Titus Alapati, one of kotuku's foundation choir members, found that courage and wrote it into his song. 

​TOGETHER we taught each other what hope looks like.

Courage began to shine from the face of every Kotuku singer, and from the audiences impacted by their songs and their stories.

"Kotuku is not like other choirs; it is unique – the words of the songs reach out to those going through depression, loss in family, or someone who needs encouragement."

Together, the first generation of Kotuku children and their families built a rich history of significance, evident not only by awards won and international partnerships formed, but in the lives of its young graduates.
 
Where these graduates have come from, where they stand and where they are going, continues to provide on-going inspiration for newly enrolled students, sponsors, audiences and the families and communities for whom they stand.

"Big time changes have occurred since joining Kotuku. I was a gang leader at 12 years of age, heavily addicted to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, expelled from college and facing prison sentencing. During the past months I've worked with Sharon and the choir, it has given me an identity and the sense of belonging to a group with heart and purpose."

​How we roll. Ongoing mentoring, advocacy and leadership training are the keys for our children to navigate from childhood through to young adulthood with self worth, a sense of being accepted, valued and belonging. Once a child’s own unique cultural and individual identity is intact, seen, heard and respected, kotahitanga, together, unity with one heart, one collective voice emerges.
 
Kotuku provides these keys through its unique programme, formulated specifically to unite children from hugely diverse backgrounds and ages, through professionally supervised workshops, differentiated to fit the unique mix of each student intake, celebrating diversity.

National and international exchange programmes, tours and exemplary hosting networks are integral to this vision, as is working in partnership with national and international academic institutions, community link-age (elderly working alongside children on mutually beneficial projects) and cultural and civic community programmes, through workshops, recordings and performances.

Kotuku on tour - Maine, USA, 2007

KOTUKU's choir / performing troupe aged 8 – 18,  sing EVERY language represented by its ever-evolving cultural mix of students, performing the song and dance of Aotearoa and the Pacific Rim, original multi-media composition, and international repertoire.

Kotuku effectively gives every participant a cultural passport of music and social training that can help EVERY child find their individual voice and direction in life. 

Kotuku’s programme is founded on the values of respect, humility, courage, unswerving desire for excellence, gratitude of heart, dedication, empathy and the unquestionable professionalism modeled by its visiting iconic music directors,
performers, young leaders, staff and volunteers. These are the pre-requisites for significance, and the reason every practice and performance begins with the Maori traditional Karakia, honouring our Maori heritage, building legacy.

These young people are our precious seeds, our Kotuku legacy, the future of Aotearoa.​