Harrison is a year 12 student at Mount Aspiring College (MAC) and plays in a band, Superficial.
The Kurano Music Event Grant was established this year by multi-award-winning Christchurch musician Rakuto Kurano, 24, who works as artist-in-residence at the Aspiring Lifestyle Village in Wanaka.
Harrison said, in a statement from himself and Mr Kurano, the grant was an awesome opportunity and he was really excited to see how his chosen event would play out.
"My event will feature the band I am in, Superficial, and we plan to play a small ticketed concert at Rhyme x Reason Brewery."
"We think it will be a really fun way to put our band out into the Wānaka community, and we plan on having another band support us and play some tunes too," Harrison said.
Mr Kurano is also the artistic director of the Magic Carpet Music Trust, a charitable trust he co-founded with Wanaka music patron Lyn Milne MNZM.
The $400 music event grant assists a MAC student to plan and present their own music event and includes and support and mentoring by Mr Kurano.
The grant selection committee included Mr Kurano, Mrs Milne, and Taylor Williams, general manager - retail & sales at Karen Walker International.
Harrison said the music course at MAC had helped him rekindle his passion for music and the arts.
"Since I began taking music at MAC, I have started practising all of the instruments I love, finding new music, and making new friends."
"I'm thinking about pursuing something in the music industry in the future and I definitely give MAC a lot of credit for that, especially the never-ending support of our head of music Mr [Mat] Doyle."
Mr Kurano said he developed an interest in event management during his first year at the University of Canterbury.
"With this in mind, I took the initiative to organise my own events and concert tours and it’s the reason I have established the grant."
Kurano said managing events meant he had developed essential skills that were a key factor in his success as a professional musician.
He was committed to passing on those skills to ambitious young music students, empowering them to take control of their own careers, he said.
The Kurano Music Event Grant goes hand in hand with the Kurano Composition Award and Kurano Musical Performance Award which are also designed to encourage musical talent at MAC.
— APL
