An Auckland music school that has produced award-winning musicians, artists, and producers is facing closure after more than 20 years.  

The proposed closure of the Music and Audio Insitute of New Zealand (MAINZ) Auckland campus impacts 27 current students and would put 18 staff out of jobs.  

MAINZ is run by the Southern Insitute of Technology – now part of mega-polytech Te Pūkenga.  

Alumni include Joel Little, who has written and produced for Lorde and Taylor Swift, Troy Kingi, Gin Wigmore, and Kings, among many others.  

The campus offers state-of-the-art facilities and great programmes, but enrolments have fallen over the last few years and it has been operating at a significant loss, Te Pūkenga Deputy Chief Executive Ako Delivery Gus Gilmore said.  

Flood damage meant the campus was unable to open this semester.

Tertiary Education Union Organiser Jane Kostanich said members feel Te Pūkenga has taken advantage of this to do a review.  

Gilmore said “prior to and in parallel” to responding to flood impact it has also been reviewing MAINZ Auckland’s future.

It is the only music school of its kind in the Auckland and Northland regions and offers certificates, diplomas, a bachelor's degree, and graduate diploma, from levels one to seven.  

It provides for students who don’t have the high school qualifications to study at university, or are under-served by the education system, and has different courses, delivery, and pedagogy to other providers, Chris Orange, Co Programme Leader of Foundation Sound and Music said.  

About 40 to 50 per cent of students in any given year are Māori or Pacific, he said. 

Chris Orange, Co-Programme leader at MAINZ. Photo / Supplied

Staff don’t know whether they’ll be able to finish courses for current students.  

The 27 who are mid-way through courses have been given options to continue at other providers, with Te Pūkenga covering the difference in tuition fees and providing a $500 hardship payment, Gilmore said.  

The sixty-six people who have been in touch about enrolling and 39 who are officially enrolled have also been given details of alternatives.  

Students have been unable to get Studylink payments as they were quickly withdrawn from courses after the flooding.  

“We’ve had students turning up to our gigs in tears...asking what’s happening...they can’t get any joy from SIT Te Pūkenga and they can’t pay their rent,” Orange said.  

About two weeks before Olivia Whitehead was meant to start the final year of her degree, she was told the campus was running at a loss and was unable to open due to flood damage.  

The email apologised for the late notice and said courses would continue at its Christchurch campus and students could discuss this and other options across the Te Pūkenga network.  

“There was no compassion, no links for potential counselling anyone may need, no hardship welfare, nothing,” Whitehead said.  

Whitehead said options offered at SAE Insitute and the University of Auckland differ from MAINZ, which is “one of a kind”.  

She describes the hardship fund as “insulting”.  

“It was just up in the air for so long. Te Pūkenga didn’t give any communication. The communication I’ve received honestly is from my mum and I chasing up SIT almost every day at one point.”

Gilmore said definitive information couldn’t be provided sooner due to the time needed to assess flood damage, with the high demand for assessors in Auckland.

They were in regular, informal contact with participants and close contact with teachers, he said.  

Both Orange and Kostanich believe Te Pūkenga isn’t living up to its purpose.

“Te Pūkenga’s vision was really to ensure that local community interests and needs could be serviced...it feels like it’s the opposite of the vision,” Kostanich said.  

Orange added that if Te Pūkenga took on MAINZ Auckland it would mean its meeting its charter.  

Award-winning artist Troy Kingi credits MAINZ Auckland with where he is today.  

“It’s quite sad when you look at the alumni, the great artists, musicians, producers who have come from there.

“It’s just a great place, it’s a great hub of creativity and like-minded people,” he said.  

Troy Kingi. Photo / File

Hello Sailor musician Harry Lyon was at the campus for 17 and a half years – first as a tutor then as Dean.  

He describes the proposed closure as a “tragedy” and said it points to the value of the arts in general.  

“Auckland is a UNESCO city of music, so it seems a shame not to have a polytechnic offering of music, with applied learning, which is something that differentiates MAINZ from the university programmes.”

MAINZ staff and the TEU have made a 121-page submission.  

They propose MAINZ Auckland re-launch under Te Pūkenga at an existing campus such as UNITEC Mt Albert.  

Feedback is sought by Wednesday, March 29 and a decision is expected in early April.