It’s been five years since Turn Up the Music Trust (TUTM) first opened its doors to the Queenstown community. Fostering musical connection, supporting learning opportunities and nurturing a love for music in kids as young as preschool age, TUTM has been a voice in the local music community in Queenstown since 2018.

A charitable trust and music school in Queenstown, Turn Up the Music is committed to providing opportunities for the younger generation to enrich their lives through music. With 19 music teachers, over 14 instruments being taught and around 200 students currently enrolled (with many more on the waiting list), they provide quality music teaching, music making, and performance opportunities and events.

“The benefits of music education are well-established and profound, providing skills that foster creativity, strong memory and adaptability - as well as resilience and social integration,” says Alison Price of Turn Up the Music.

In short, music improves people’s lives. Providing music lessons in Queenstown for all ages, children can progress from pre-school groups to subsidised group instrument lessons, then to after-school individual instrumental lessons and onwards to bands, orchestras and choirs.

The past five years, Turn Up the Music has focused on increasing its reach in the community and offering opportunities to a wider range of ages and abilities. Moving forward, Turn Up the Music will continue to grow in numbers and increase its reach. 

"I really don't know what I'd do without the chance to learn an instrument with Turn up the Music. It’s given me so much enjoyment!" says Matthew, a student learning the trombone through TUTM.

THIS YEAR

This year, Turn Up the Music has gone back to its roots, supporting families and children via subsidies for music lessons and scholarships, similar to the Wakatipu High School Awhi Fund that allows equal access to music lessons for all.

TUTM has:

• Budgeted $30k for music lesson subsidies and $5k for scholarships in 2023
• Had 330 kids through their programmes in 2023, up from 250 in 2022
• Supported 66 families with subsidies this year compared to 46 in 2022
• Had the highest number of subsidy applications in Q4 2023 – 42

In Term One, the team launched a new Try Out the Music programme aimed at 4-10 year old children with little or no music experience. During the programme, the students learned the fundamentals of music theory and tried a range of different instruments taught by qualified music teachers.

This term the group of 20 students had the opportunity to experience a range of instruments, including the saxophone, violin, trumpet, guitar, recorder, flute, drums and glockenspiel. This was in part thanks to generous funding from Community Trust South and Aotearoa Gaming Trust and several other generous donors.

"My son is having a ball with his music. Last night I couldn't get him to bed because he kept wanting to just play for another couple of minutes. So good to see his excitement!" says Matthew’s mum.

GROUPS

Turn Up the Music is currently running eight different group lesson options, all of which are subsidised to make them affordable and accessible to all children in our community. These groups are partially funded by Youthtown and the Creative Communities Scheme with additional funding from generous donors.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND SUBSIDIES

This year, TUTM was proud to support three students with a full scholarship. All three of these students were identified by their teachers as having a natural musical talent, being passionate and committed, and were considered to be up-and-coming musicians in our community.

The applications for financial support in 2023 increased by 50% from the year prior. In 2022, Turn Up the Music supported 31 families in Term One. This year, that has increased to 47 families. All of these families are experiencing financial strain and would struggle to keep their children in individual lessons without this support. The trust is able to offer these scholarships and subsidies thanks to generous corporate and private donors.

In short, Turn Up the Music is a trust that is enriching the lives of around 200 children, their families and the community at large. If you would like to further support the trust, you can make a donation or get in touch with the team for more information. 

“Next time you go to a music concert, remember that those artists all started somewhere,” says Craig Robins from Turn Up the Music. “And most were supported by parents, families and charitable trusts like TUTM.”

An enormous thank you to the 20-odd music teachers, trustees, donors and grant providers who keep the grassroots Trust doing its good work.

If you are a music teacher yourself, or if you have a fun group music-making idea, get in touch with the team. Turn Up the Music is always on the hunt for more music teachers or collaborators.