Archive for category: News

Oh Goodness, it’s only 72 days, 13 hours to Christmas! So no time to lose in planning some jollies to lift your spirits as Richard Durrant’s extra special Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour hits the road in December…

For many music lovers across the UK, Christmas doesn’t properly begin without Richard Durrant’s Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concerts. Richard’s wintry, musical choices are always a fascination: original guitar works, tunes from the early music repertoire, British folk and works by Bach – all played in his uniquely expressive way with the flawless technique of a major virtuoso and the delivery of a natural story teller.

‘…one of the highlights of the year. Durrant’s evocative playing and stunning stage set fill the centre with a magical aura perfectly aligned to the festive season’.
– Ropetackle Arts Centre

Richard is once again joined by the master folk fiddler Nick Pynn and uniquely talented singer Amy Kakoura (above) – two great musicians who help take this show into the heart of Christmas. These three musician’s performances are always flawless and full of midwinter magic. Together they will serve a festive feast of tunes from the early music repertoire, British folk, traditional carols and original guitar works.

‘Attempting to wrestle control of Christmas from the more commercial aspects.’
– Daily Express

Over many years Richard’s Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concerts have become a seasonal tradition eagerly awaited by music lovers across the UK. The tour starts on 2 December on Richard’s home territory of Shoreham-by-Sea before heading up to Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, West to Baulking in Oxfordshire and then to various venues in the South-East.

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Shoreham-by-Sea

2 December : 3:30 pmRopetackle Arts Centre

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Shoreham-by-Sea

2 December : 7:30 pmRopetackle Arts Centre

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Beverley

6 December : 7:30 pmToll Gavel United Church

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Baulking

7 December : 8:00 pm£17 - St Nicholas Church

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – East Chitlington

8 December : 7:00 pm£5 – £16 - East Chiltington Church

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Shoreham-by-Sea

9 December : 3:00 pmRopetackle Arts Centre

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Shoreham-by-Sea

9 December : 7:30 pmRopetackle Arts Centre

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Tunbridge Wells

19 December : 8:00 pmTrinity Theatre

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Findon Valley

20 December : 7:30 pm£8.25 – £16.50 - All Saints Church

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Wilmington

21 December : 2:30 pm£5 – £16 - St Mary’s & St Peter’s Church

Richard Durrant Candlelit Christmas – Wilmington

21 December : 7:30 pm£5 – £16 - St Mary’s & St Peter’s Church

STRINGHENGE 2018

And just a reminder that there are just two more concerts to go in the current Stringhenge Tour:

Tuesday 16 October: Ropetackle, Shoreham-by-Sea with The Burning Deck

Saturday 20th October: Theatr Clwyd, Mold

featuring the Premiere of Richard’s new solo work Book of Spells.

As Richard Durrant’s wonderful week-long French Guitar Adventurers comes to an end it’s a chance to reflect on the achievements of the week and to look forward to the year ahead… 

This week’s group have had a fantastic time together learning new music and enjoying the daily group practise sessions.  And to end the week everyone will be performing in the final concert in the beautiful local church at Yviers which is about an hour or so’s drive east of Bordeaux.  It’s a free gig and the locals seem to really enjoy the relaxed format and the sound of all those guitars in such an exuberant acoustic.

Looking ahead to French Guitar Adventurers 2019 here are the dates for your diary:

• • Monday 8th to Sunday 14th July
  • Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd September

Eleven spaces have been booked already so we recommend you get in quick!

Richard sums up the French Guitar Adventurers as follows:

‘For me the best thing for me about the holidays is that the complete mix of playing styles and playing abilities works. It also means that each player has to be flexible, generous and understanding and these are all qualities that I consider to be the main ingredients of good musicianship. It also makes for wonderful music making, steep learning curves and a great end of week gig!’  

Autumn Tour 2018

Richard returns to England this coming week to prepare for the Stringhenge autumn tour starting at the Hurst Festival in Sussex on 22 September and continuing into October.

Stringhenge

Stringhenge Album Release

Monday 17 September sees the official release date of the STRINGHENGE album. Please help by spreading the word – maybe even send in some requests to BBC Radio 3, 6 Music and Folk on 2! It all helps…. 

It’s great that the album is getting some good airplay on the airwaves. You may have heard the feature on the BBC 6 Tom Robinson show the other week. The stand out track seems to be Kenneth the Hedge! If you missed it you can listen again below…

Tom Robinson

Listen again: https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/m00008t5

There are only about ten copies of the vinyl first pressing left. All signed and numbered, so don’t miss your change to grab one while you can.

21 April promises to be a fantastic evening of music featuring The Richard Durrant Orchestra and Richard Durrant’s incredible new Concerto for solo Ukulele, Strings, Percussion, Keyboards, Bass and community Ukulele players.

Let’s take a look at how the preparation is going:

This is a film of a performance of some of the movements of Six Grooves with players from the BYO. It is shot by Michael Danks on a 360 degree camera. you can click on the screen and look around The Brighton College Recital Hall

Described as ‘A game changer for the ukulele’ by George Hinchliffe – co-founder of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – this extraordinary project is being supported by Arts Council England and PRS for Music.

Six Grooves for Ukulele
21 April 2018, 7.30pm
The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley, RH10 6YZ

Tickets: £21.50, Child £18, Schools/Groups 10 + £16.50
Booking information: 01293 553636 parkwoodtheatres.co.uk

The Richard Durrant Orchestra features a full string section plus Chris Brannick & Stephen Hiscock – percussion, Howard Beach – keyboards and Gareth Huw Davis – bass.​

Howard Beach tells us more about this amazing new piece:

There’s still time to get involved… but be quick!

Six Grooves for Ukulele involves The Richard Durrant Orchestra working with ukulele players in the area to perform this original and ground breaking new work.

If you want to be one of the community ukulele players then join Richard’s workshops on Tuesday 10th April, Tuesday 17th April 7pm & Saturday 21st April 11am at The Hawth in Crawley.

SIX GROOVES FOR UKULELE WORKSHOPS
10 April – 21 April

SIX GROOVES FOR UKULELE – PERFORMANCE
21 April : 7:30 pm

============================================================

The Complete Programme:

Six Grooves for Ukulele
for full orchestra, solo ukulele and antiphonal ukuleles

The Girl at the Airport
for guitar and strings

Cycling Music:
for guitar sequences, full orchestra and bicyclatter

‘The whole work was totally involving, and not just because I was involved! I won’t forget my experience in a hurry’
Community ukulele player