Te Karanga Trust Welcomes Rising Artist Makayla for Sony Music Group’s “Season of Giving” Community Event
Te Karanga Trust is proud to announce a special one-night event with Sony Music Group’s annual Season of Giving initiative, celebrating youth, creativity, and community connection. The event will take place at The Button Factory in Auckland, home to Te Karanga’s fortnightly youth programme DOJO, a creative safe space for emerging young artists to learn, grow, and perform.
Since 2004, Te Karanga has been a safe home for young people from all walks of life, with a strong foundation in supporting Māori and Pacific rangatahi. We create space for identity, healing, creativity, and leadership — uplifting every young person who comes through our doors, while honouring the cultures at the heart of our community.
Season of Giving is Sony Music Group’s global charity initiative, supporting organisations focused on community wellbeing and music education. This year, Sony has chosen Te Karanga Trust as a recipient, acknowledging the Trust’s 20+ year commitment of uplifting rangatahi through mentoring, leadership, wellbeing support, and creative pathways.
As part of this initiative, Sony is sending rising Aotearoa singer-songwriter Makayla —recent winner of the 2025 Waiata Māori Music Award for Best Māori Female Solo Artist—to share live music and kōrero with Te Karanga youth and whānau. Makayla will engage directly with young people involved in Te Karanga’s creative development and Navigators programmes, offering inspiration, visibility, and encouragement.
The event also highlights the incredible talent emerging from Te Karanga’s Wāhine Navigators Programme, with supporting performances by SIRCÉ, SANCY, and Red Creek — three young wāhine who represent the strength, resilience, and creativity of the next generation.
ARTIST PROFILES — WĀHINE NAVIGATORS
SANCY A member of the Te Karanga Wāhine Navigators Programme for the past two years, 18-year-old Indian-born singer-songwriter SANCY brings heartfelt vocals and honest, emotional storytelling to her music. Raised in Māngere and a Play It Strange finalist, she writes about love, relationships, and the journey of breaking free from toxic cycles. Her sound is raw, expressive, and deeply personal — the voice of a young woman discovering her power and identity through music.
Red Creek is a 25-year-old Peruvian-born Latina artist who arrived in Aotearoa in 2017. Blending Hip Hop and R&B with a powerful emotional delivery, she creates music shaped by healing, survival, and the reclamation of voice. Raised in Peru’s national choir system, music became her lifeline and pathway to expression. She joined Te Karanga’s DOJO programme in May 2025, where she continues to grow as an artist and storyteller, expressing truths she once felt unable to share.
SIRCÉ is a 28-year-old singer and creative artist who has spent the past four years in Te Karanga’s South Navigators programme and was the very first participant in the Wāhine Navigators pathway. Her music is rooted in joy, self-expression, and emotional honesty. Creating helps her step beyond her comfort zone, connect with herself, and give meaning to her experiences. Through her music, SIRCÉ shares stories and emotions that words alone cannot hold — offering something real, vulnerable, and deeply felt to her community.
This visit is made possible through the Sony International Justice Fund, and Te Karanga are proud recipients of this support. The Fund backs Te Karanga’s Navigators Programme and has recently extended funding to strengthen kaupapa across Te Ika-a-Māui. Sony’s commitment helps Te Karanga continue delivering youth-led initiatives, cultural identity development, and safe creative pathways for rangatahi.
Te Karanga Trust is honoured to host Makayla and to work alongside Sony Music Group in empowering young people and strengthening community connections through music, storytelling, and shared experience.