Aims, Principles and Funding

The key principles of the Foundation can be summed up as follows:

  1. To assist outstanding New Zealand musicians and singers to develop international careers at the highest level. The Foundation is not aligned with any individuals, institutions or methods; the entire thrust of its work is to recognize and support young people who have what it takes to achieve world-class status in an extremely competitive arena of endeavour.
  2. The belief that the recipe for career success in the performing arts is 20% inspiration and 80% perspiration. The Foundation is looking not just for talent, though that will be a first base. Young artists considered worthy of the Foundation's support will also have outstanding focus, drive and initiative.
  3. The Foundation will offer two broad types of support:
    1. Mentoring: advice, master classes, influential introductions and other means of encouragement;
    2. Funding for specific and agreed use, as negotiated with each recipient.
  4. Recipients of Foundation support will form a long-term relationship with the Foundation and with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. On occasions, individuals may receive Foundation support more than once. However, the Foundation's ongoing support of any individual will be driven by results; we will offer ongoing support only when we can see that the recipient is completely committed to achieving their agreed goals.
  5. The Foundation seeks to add new value, not to duplicate or replace the existing work that is being done in this area by a range of individuals and institutions, particularly including the Dame Malvina Major Foundation, with whom we have a complementary relationship.

Funding Process

The Foundation is determined to keep our operational costs as low as possible so as to ensure that a high proportion of the funds that is raised is applied directly to the talented young people whom the Foundation wishes to support.

Accordingly the Foundation will not plan or organise competitions or hold open auditions around New Zealand, and will not be accepting unsolicited applications from individuals.  Rather it is hoped that candidates suitable for consideration will be identified and recommended to by practitioners, particularly teachers of music and singing, who are uniquely qualified to act as informal 'talent scouts', bringing to the Foundation's attention the names of young singers and musicians with outstanding talent and career potential.

Here is how the Foundation intends to manage the process:

  1. Initial recommendations will be received from teachers, coaches and suitably qualified mentors, outlining why they believe that the candidate is worthy of support, and what support is needed.
  2. An informal national network of assessors will be formed compromising practitioners who are known to the Foundation and who are qualified to make an initial assessment of local recommendations. If necessary, an assessor will confer with the recommending teacher, and make an independent assessment of the candidate.
  3. Based on the strength of the teacher's and/or the assessor's recommendation, the Foundation will talk to the candidate regarding their plans and needs. At this time, if the Foundation believes it can provide useful support to the candidate, an application will be completed by the candidate with the assistance of the Foundation, and will be put to the Trustees for assessment.
  4. Applications will be made by invitation only, and unsolicited applications will be returned to the applicant. From time to time, however, Trustees may invite applications from candidates who are known or established.
  5. Funding decisions will be made in two 'rounds' annually. This allows the Foundation to group all of the recommendations and assess them on a comparative basis, a process which is consistent with other funding organisations and therefore well understood by applicants, and which is also reasonably transparent and fair.
  6. A Foundation sub-committee will assess applications and make recommendations to the Foundation. This committee will include non-Trustee members. The Foundation will be guided but not bound by the sub-committee's recommendations.