To The Front Tāmaki Makaurau

Mon 12th – Sat 17th January 2026

SAE Creative Media Institute Auckland

Girls Rock Aotearoa has been helping young women, trans, takatāpui, intersex, and gender diverse youth form bands, build instrumental skills, and write original songs since 2018. We’re proud to announce that our To The Front Tāmaki Makaurau programme is back for 2026!

Held Monday 12 to Saturday 17 January 2026, To The Front is open to youth aged 12-17 years who are women, intersex, trans, takatāpui and gender diverse. They’ll learn instruments, form bands, write original songs, and perform at a showcase, all guided by professional musicians in a gender iclusive environment. Alongside collaborative learning, participants will take part in workshops about DIY merchandise, songwriting and performance skills. Each day they’ll enjoy performances from local artists.

Tāmaki Makaurau Programme

To The Front Tāmaki Makaurau is a series of youth music programmes open to youth aged 12-17 years who are women, transgender, intersex, takatāpui, queer and gender diverse.

At the programme they learn instruments, form bands, write original songs, and perform at a showcase, all guided by musicians and industry professionals. Alongside collaborative learning, participants take part in workshops about DIY merchandise, mindfulness, and performance skills. Each day they enjoy performances from local artists.

If you’ve already been a part of Girls Rock/To The Front and want to challenge yourself to try something new, we’re looking for 16-19 year-olds to be a part of our Pathways programme, developing our next generation of To The Front organisers.

As well as helping out coordinators with day-to-day operations, you’ll participate in specialty workshops illuminating paths for music beyond high school, form an band to perform at our showcase, and develop new networks by getting to know our coordinators, mentors, and your peers.

The purpose of the Pathways programme is to create a supportive community of young performers and music fans, and to create connections with the music industry. Our Pathways youth (aged 16-19 yrs) are talented and engaged youth with a passion for music.