Archive for category: News

Following guest appearances on the main stage at major ukulele festivals in Wales and Scotland later this month, Richard’s Music for Midsummer Tour 2019 will begin at last with concerts in Aberystwyth and Narbeth.

After starting in Wales, the tour continues at a number of English venues before crossing over to France for a special concert in the beautiful church in Chef-Boutonne in France (halfway between Poitiers and Angoulemme).

‘It’ll be lovely to play my summer programme in France and to take some positive English vibes across into Europe! I did a little bit of practise in this church on the way to my Guitar Adventurers holiday last year and the acoustic is just fantastic.’

Richard is spending most of May hiding away preparing for the tour but before he did that he enjoyed seeing in the month with his dog Bollo!

The pair of them watched The Sompting Morris (see picture above) with an early morning dance on May Day in the centre of Shoreham. On the same day Radio London spent the afternoon playing extracts from Richard’s prog-folk classic song Morris Dreams – a 7.5 minute extravaganza from last year’s Stringhenge album. The song actually features Sompting Morris complete with sticks, boots and bells!

In addition to the huge Music for Midsummer Tour there are lots of other exciting activities in the months ahead across England, Scotland, Wales and France – check the diary for more information about all these concerts.

STOP PRESS: don’t miss the Homelink 20th Anniversary Concert at Glyndebourne, on Sunday 17 November 2019, 3pm. Richard will be one of the artists appearing at this event which will feature special guests from the charity’s VIP supporter base who will be on stage to introduce the acts.

Richard Durrant’s first ukulele quartet ‘Tan y Bwlch’ is soon to receive its first performance given the instrument a new status in the world of classical music…

Pic: Ukulele Quartet Poster

Since producing The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s 2004 album ‘The Secret of Life’, Richard is becoming increasingly influential in the ukulele world. In his 2012 solo tour of Paraguay, he was invited to play unaccompanied Bach on his uke on top of the Itaipu Dam overlooking Brazil, and in 2018 took part in a royal command performance at Buckingham Palace. And his wonderful six-movement ukulele concerto has ‘smuggled the little wooden box into the world of classical music’.

‘Richard’s ukulele compositions are masterful. They’re full of intriguing and catchy musical ideas which transcend the boundaries of academic or popular music – a game changer for the ukulele.’

George Hinchliffe, co-founder of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

When Richard was invited to perform at the finale of this summer’s Meet the Ukulele Maker’s Festival he saw it as a great opportunity to write and perform his first ukulele quartet. Set in Plas Tan y Bwlch, a former stately country house in North Wales’s Snowdonia National Park, Richard took its name as the title for his new quartet.

‘I’ve been visiting Snowdonia for over thirty years and I hope my love for the place comes across in this new music. But you have to understand this is an Englishman’s view – it’s me clutching my uke and gazing in awe at the mountains.’

Richard Durrant

TAN Y BWLCH

The World Première will take place at Ropetackle Arts Centre on Wednesday 27 February performed as part of a concert featuring Richard playing solo guitar, tenor guitar and ukulele. Tan y Bwlch will be performed by the composer plus thirty two of his Ukulele Circuit Trainers.

The performance at MUMF will be on 1 June. Richard is calling for participants who can download the resources online and watch specially prepared instructional videos to prepare for the workshops and performance at the festival

This three movement work can be performed by either four ukulele players, or three groups of players plus a soloist. The two outer movements are written in a minimalist style with intriguing, repeated patterns that suit the four ukuleles perfectly, conjuring up a beautiful, filmic landscape of sound. 

In Durrant’s ingenious score the four ukes perfectly mimic a Welsh train rushing through Snowdonia and there is even a brief interlude where the train pulls into a misty little station to take on water, coal and sandwiches!

In total contrast the middle movement is set to become a huge hit with uke lovers everywhere – it is the ukulele’s very own ’Orange Blossom Special’. But here Durrant is evoking the sound of the famous narrow gauge  Welsh Mountain Railway instead of the American express locomotive of that famous, bluegrass fiddle tune. 

Have a look at the second movement ‘Cledrau’…

The Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour is now two-thirds of the way through and Richard Durrant and his team are playing to big crowds and getting the Christmas magic flowing through advent.  So let’s catch up with all the action…

‘The new set list for this tour is a joy with the addition of the English song The Cutty Wren, an XTC track and several other surprises. I am also playing more cello than before – which sounds great with Nick Pynn’s fiddle, dulcimer and bass pedals and Amy Kakoura’s wonderful singing’.

Tickets are now sold out for the remainder of the tour except for the Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells and the afternoon performance in Wilmington Church.

The tour began at the start of December and included a trip up to The Toll Gavel, Beverley – a regular gig for Richard where he always draws a big crowd. Richard tells us:

‘Apart from meeting so many old friends at the show, this trip also reminded me just how much I enjoy travelling with Nick, Amy and company stage manager Matt Hodgson. Matt’s a great member of the team who makes a big difference to the show with his years of experience in music and theatre, both onstage and backstage – believe it or not he even played the Milky Bar Kid (a few years back…)’.

The day after our their too short visit to Yorkshire they travelled down to Baulking in Oxfordshire. The idea was to include a Christmas gig as close as possible to the Uffington White Horse. Big thanks to George Reade and team for hosting such a brilliant event. The candles flickered and the White Horse danced on the side of the hill. This gig was filmed and the plan is to publish highlights at some point. 

On Saturday the team headed back to Sussex to a gig in the historic church at East Chiltingon. The following day they played a matinee and evening concert back home in Shoreham at the Ropetackle Arts Centre.  The Ropetackle gig was recorded and the track are on sale now in MP3, FLAC or ALAC formats.

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This week the tour concludes with performances at Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, Findon Valley and the tour finale on the day of the Winter Solstice at Wilmington Church (close to another notable, English hill carving).

Look out for Richard’s 12 Days of Christmas which will soon be appearing on all Richard’s video and social media pages as well as on the successful Richard Durrant Academy…

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without Richard Durrant’s Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour. But it’s not all about Richard as he is accompanied by two of the finest talents on the musical scene. Find out more… CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE TOUR DETAILS

Amy Kakoura

Caught between worlds – part Greek, part Irish, and brought up in England, Amy Kakoura is an artist who strides across genres, journeying between the folk world, an operatic training, the musical-theatre industry, the Jazz ’n’ Blues scene, and many stops in-between. Amy trained at the GSA Conservatoire, and went on to co-write and take the lead in the sellout production Songs From A Ledge, at the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham, and her song cycle Anansi Is Dead was performed at Coventry’s Theatre Absolute in November. Amy is the lead vocalist for Steamchicken. This eight-piece folk-funk-cabaret cacophony has attracted much notoriety! She also sings regularly with Blues and Soul Revue The Daily Grind and joins Richard Durrant for a sixth year of his magical Christmas tour.

Haunting Vocals – Maverick Magazine on Amy Kakoura

Nick Pynn

Nick is probably best known for his regular appearance as Stewart Lee’s musical counterpart in the BBC Comedy Vehicle, as well as playing in Lee’s Austerity Binge at The Queen Elizabeth Hall. Nick is a member of Stomp’s Lost and Found Orchestra, and has toured with comedians Boothby Graffoe, Rich Hall and performed for several years in two-handers with Steve Harley (Cockney Rebel) and Arthur Brown. Receiving glowing reviews for his 15 years at the Edinburgh Fringe, with his unique mix of storytelling, melodic mastery, technical wizardry and vast array of instruments and curiosities. In 2012 he toured in the all-star line up of The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny. Nick often joins forces with singer/songwriter Kate Daisy Grant to create a two-person orchestra, adding piano, found objects and various string instruments. Nick has performed and recorded regularly with guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant.

…music of immense imagination and skill – Glasgow Herald on Nick Pynn

Richard Durrant

In 2018 Richard never really stopped. After his orchestra gave its debut performance playing Richard’s new ukulele concerto and a selection of his other orchestral music, he went on to release his first double album Stringhenge. Then he cycled from St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney all the way down to Sussex including a live performance on BBC Radio 3. Following two very successful Guitar Adventurers holidays in the south of France Richard returned home for more Stringhenge concerts and found himself the subject of a forty five minute feature on BBC6 Music. The station continues to play tracks from Stringhenge. But now Christmas has just appeared on the horizon, and the music has changed tack Says Richard: ‘As soon as the clocks go back I start to daydream about playing with Nick and Amy – by the time Bonfire Night has been and gone this has turned to a raging desire! So bring on the midwinter and let me play folk music and sing carols….’

Richard Durrant is my new favourite guitarist. He sits completely outside the accepted genres and has a peculiar and wonderful mind – Tom Robinson BBC Radio 6

Throughout December, you can catch Richard Durrant’s Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour at Beverley, Baulking (already sold out) East Chitlington, Tunbridge Wells, Findon Valley, Wilmington and Richard’s home town of Shoreham-by-Sea. CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE TOUR DETAILS Due to other commitments this is a shorter tour than usual so get your tickets fast!