Composer and music industry personality Victoria Kelly has been named among eight new 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates – outstanding practising artists recognised for their world-class work and profound impact on Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture and communities.

Each Laureate receives a no strings attached $50,000 gift in recognition of their extraordinary contribution to date and as a nudge to keep going. The list of new Arts Foundation laureates also includes: Madeleine Sami (film and TV); Anapela Polata’ivao (theatre); Catherine Chidgey (literature); Sriwhana Spong (multi-disciplinary); Tyrone Ohia (design); et al. (visual arts) and painter Emily Karaka.

Kelly received the Joanna Beckett Waiwetu Trust Award for music, the accompanying citation reading:
Widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s most versatile and accomplished musical minds, Victoria has spent more than three decades creating work that transcends genre, medium, and expectation. Equally at home in the worlds of contemporary classical composition, film, television, theatre, and popular music, she has become a critical voice in our cultural landscape