The Fame Mid-Career Awards 2026 Recipients Announced

The recipients of the FAME Mid-Career Awards 2026 have been announced at the 2026 PANNZ Arts Market, recognising the outstanding contributions of performing artists and production professionals from across Aotearoa’s performing arts sector. With 55 individuals nominated, this year’s awards highlighted the remarkable talent within the industry.
 
Established in 2022, the FAME Mid-Career Awards administered by PANNZ (The Performing Arts Network New Zealand) in partnership with The FAME Trust and the Acorn Foundation, recognise and support practitioners across Contemporary Dance, Classical Music, Theatre, Producing, Stage Management, Production, Design, and Technical fields. Each of this year’s six recipients will receive a cash prize of NZ$20,000, made possible through the generosity of the FAME Trust in partnership with the Acorn Foundation.
 
“It’s a privilege to honour this year’s recipients and all the hard work, dedication and passion they bring to their craft. We are incredibly grateful to the FAME Trust and Acorn Foundation for their continued generosity in championing our mid-career artists and the vital role they play in our industry,” says Jo Bond, Senior Producer | Kaiwhakaputa Matua, PANNZ.
 
Since their inception, the FAME Mid-Career Awards have recognised 26 practitioners, awarding a total of NZ$450,000 in honour of their mahi. Past recipients include Rodney Bell, Ben Crowder, Anapela Polata’ivao, and Lusi Faiva. See a full list of past recipients here.
 
“It is overwhelmingly wonderful to be honoured in this way. It makes an enormous difference to me, to my confidence, and to my sense of artistic and financial freedom in a time of huge change and uncertainty in the artistic landscape. I'm delighted to receive this award -  delighted that it has existed for composers before me, and delighted that it exists for composers beyond me too.” says 2026 recipient, Victoria Kelly.
 
THE 2026 FAME MID-CAREER AWARD RECIPIENTS ARE:
 
Mid-Career Performing Artist Recipients

Victoria Kelly
Victoria Kelly is an award-winning composer and musician based in Tāmaki Makaurau. With a career spanning 32 years, she works across a spectrum of genre and media. Renowned for its emotional depth and directness - Victoria’s music has been commissioned, performed and recorded by many of Aotearoa’s leading ensembles and performers including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Voices New Zealand, NZTrio, the New Zealand String Quartet and Stroma. As an arranger, orchestrator and performer, Victoria has collaborated with many popular artists including Neil Finn, Jimmy Barnes, Tami Neilson, Finn Andrews / The Veils, Moana Maniapoto, Anika Moa, Shapeshifter, SJD, and Don McGlashan. She has composed extensively for dance, theatre and film; composing original music for productions by Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh, Robert Sarkies, and Jonathan King among others; and winning two New Zealand Film and Television Awards as well as the inaugural APRA Award for Best Original Music in a Feature Film.

Aloali'i Tapu (Solosolo & Saleilua, Falealili)
Born and raised in Ōtara, Aloali'i Tapu is a dance artist engaged in creating stage and performance with his family, friends and wider communities. He works across roles including director, teacher, dancer, and mentor. In 2016 Aloali'i received the Der Faust Award for Best Dancer, one of the highest honours in German theatre. In 2019, he co-founded Ta’alili with designer and lifelong collaborator Tori Manley Tapu. Through Ta’alili, Aloali'i has directed major works including Goodbye Naughton, LEECHES, Aftermath (Salzburg, Austria), Faces of Nature, Vanguard and MANU MALO (Hamburg, Germany). After returning home, Ta’alili launched ETENA FEST in 2024, a multi month festival bringing communities together through performance, workshops and art making. In 2025, alongside longtime collaborators CONJAH, Tori and Aloali'i co-founded Undaground Fono, a pop up school for performance and community building. That same year he was awarded the Samoa Artist in Residence through CNZ and Pacific Dance NZ.
 
Tainui Tukiwaho (Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Whakatōhea, Tūwharetoa, Kāi Tahu)
Tainui Tukiwaho has worked as a director, producer, writer and actor since graduating from UNITEC in 2001. As well as being heavily involved in the film and television industry; he has created innovative theatre works and is continually cast by our major television & film making companies. Tainui is also fluent in te reo Māori and has worked with many of NZ's Māori Language Production companies; including creating his own Māori language driven theatre company Te Rēhia. Tainui has and will continue to develop excellent productions for the NZ film, television and theatre industry. With almost 20 years experience in the industry, Tainui is also one of the founders of Te Pou Theatre.
 
Mid-Career Production & Technical Professional Recipients
 
Laurel Devenie
Laurel is a director, producer, and arts leader who has fundamentally changed what’s possible for artists and audiences in Northland. Over the last decade, she has co-founded the theatre space ONEONESIX, the performance troupe Company of Giants, and the Whangārei Fringe Festival. Laurel trained at Toi Whakaari: The NZ Drama School and the John Bolton Theatre School. She worked across professional and community-based arts practice throughout Aotearoa. Alongside acting and directing, she’s taught, mentored and facilitated in a wide range of contexts with rangatahi, emerging artists, community members and professionals. Laurel has collaborated with companies including Silo Theatre, Auckland Theatre Company, Red Leap Theatre, Northland Youth Theatre, Unitec, and Script to Screen. She has performed in a wide range of screen and stage work — including three years on Shortland Street.
 
Leki Jackson-Bourke
Leki Jackson-Bourke is a multi-disciplinary artist of Pasifika descent currently based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Leki writes, produces and directs theatre, making theatre for diverse communities, for minority communities and for people who don’t like going to theatre. He has worked for multiple theatre companies over the years in different capacities, including: acting for Massive Theatre Company, Kila Kokonut Krew, directing and being commissioned to write for Auckland Theatre Company, dancing and programming for Black Grace, stage managing for Silo Theatre, Producing and choreographing for Sau E Siva and Strictly Brown. In 2019, Bourke was the first Victoria University Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence. Leki created the largest Niuean digital documentation project during COVID which featured a 120 strong intergenerational dance group (Three Star Nation 2020), and produced multiple shows which have sold-out follow up seasons (Pring It On, Alatini, Manamea, Meet The Fakas, Lalelei, Club Paradiso, I Must Not Speak Niuean). Leki has been a longtime choreographer for the annual ASB Polyfest, and also choreographed the opening of the VIP delegates dinner for King Charles at the CHOGM conference held in Samoa in 2024.
 
James Kearney
James Kearney is a lighting and event technology professional with extensive experience across theatre, film and live music. He has served as Head of Department - Lighting for both the Royal New Zealand Ballet and NZ Opera, delivering technical leadership for large-scale national productions and touring works. Based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, James has recently supported young theatre makers at Te Auaha and worked closely with Tawata Productions and Kia Mau Festival, contributing to the development of bold new voices and kaupapa-driven performance work. He is passionate about nurturing emerging talent and strengthening the local arts community.
 
ABOUT THE FAME MID-CAREER AWARDS
The FAME Mid-Career Awards are funded by The FAME Trust (Fund for Acting and Musical Endeavours) in partnership with the Acorn Foundation. Nominations are assessed by a diverse panel of industry experts, ensuring the selection process reflects the breadth of talent and dedication within the sector.
 
The Acorn Foundation, the Western Bay of Plenty’s local community foundation, enables generous people to make a bigger impact in their communities, by investing donated funds and distributing the returns to causes that matter – forever.
 
Since 2003, the Acorn Foundation has distributed over $25M to the Western Bay of Plenty community and beyond, supporting more than 300 local charities and award programmes. The foundation partnered with the FAME Trust in 2021 to support the performing arts across Aotearoa New Zealand.
 
Founded in 2007, the FAME (Fund for Acting and Musical Endeavours) Trust provides support for young and mid-career artists, plus funds national organisations like the NZSO, Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, and the NZ School of Dance and Tauranga-based groups such as Opus Orchestra, Youth Philharmonic and BOP Symphonia.
 
“We’re proud to partner with the FAME Trust and PANNZ to recognise these mid-career practitioners, whose creativity, leadership and hard work strengthen our cultural landscape. Supporting artists at this pivotal moment in their careers is an investment not only in their futures, but in the vibrancy of the arts for years to come,” says Lori Luke, CEO at the Acorn Foundation.

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