Taupō's young musicians take to the stage

Young Taupō musicians will get the chance to perform live at Beehave Craft Meadery in the first Youth Stage concert. Photo / Dan Hutchinson

The Dorothys reckon they will be “sticking together for life”, and if that turns out to be true, their first live performance on August 20 will be one not to miss.

A lifetime is not a particularly long time for this trio of aspiring popstars so far. The youngest member of the band is 12-year-old Tim Fremista on drums, while the two ‘veterans’ - lead guitarist Finn Riley and singer/guitarist Mikayla Edwards - are 14.

The band - which takes its name from the street in Acacia Bay where they practice - has been together for two months and will be one of several acts lined up for the first Youth Stage concert being held at Beehave Craft Meadery on Spa Rd on Sunday, August 20.

Organiser Sunny Ray said the team putting the concert together is made up of volunteers who are passionate about empowering young people.

The price of entry is a koha at the door and the performers will take a share of those donations, “showing them that music can be a career and that their exchange is valued”.

“Youth Stage is a showcase concert for local young performers to have a voice and gain experience while being supported by their communities,” Ray said.

Ray is a singer-songwriter, originally from Auckland, but was based in Cairns for eight years before she moved to Taupō recently. In Cairns, she ran music mentorship programmes for teenage girls.

“The growth opportunities these girls got were so transformative that I am inspired to continue creating these platforms for young musicians.”

Another performer at the concert will be Sienna Storm.

The 12-year-old singer-songwriter from Taupō says she loves performing and has recently started playing the guitar and writing her own songs.

She loves Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran and Benson Boon, and is “super-excited” to be seeing Lauren Spencer Smith in Auckland at the end of the year.

Sienna performed in the Rising Stars Show last year in Taupō and made it through to the quarter-finals in 5 Minutes of Fame on Māori TV, where she was judged by Vince Harder, Bella Kalolo and Luke Bird, who described her as a “Billie Eilish petite pocket rocket”.

Other performers include Heidi Robertson, who says she’s a “bit nervous” about singing on stage for the first time, and Sienna Stevenson - who says she was “born to entertain” and has already clocked up a fair bit of stage time singing and performing musical theatre.

The MCs for the show, which runs from 4pm-7pm, are Joey Salonga and Lizzy Ramsay, who are both 14. Joey will also be singing a song and is “excited and scared at the same time”.