Richard Durrant
| Richard Durrant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 November 1962 |
| Genres | Classical, Pop, Jazz, Folk, Progressive rock |
| Years active | 1979 to present |
| Labels | Independent |
| Associated acts | Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Sky, Herbie Flowers |
| Website | www |
| Notable instruments | |
| Concert Guitar, Tenor Guitar, Ukulele, Mandolin, Tenor Banjo, double Bass | |
Richard Durrant, Dip RCM, ARCM, FLCM (born Brighton, Sussex, 2 November 1962) is an English guitarist and composer. He studied guitar, cello, and composition at the Royal College of Music in London between 1981 and 1986. Since his debut at the Purcell Room, London in July 1986 Richard Durrant has gained an international reputation as one of the great guitarists of his generation. He has pursued both performance and composition in an unconventional career that has avoided categorisation and he has built a faithful, ever expanding audience who warm to his unpretentious manner and natural skills of communication. He is the only known guitar virtuoso who performs standing up.
Durrant’s compositions include ‘The Girl at the Airport’ (for guitar and strings released 2016, recorded with the City of Prague Philharmonic Strings July 2015), ‘Cycling Music’ (for guitar, sequencers and bicycle percussion, released 2014), ‘The Polar Bear’ (for solo guitar with narrator, released 2013 and featuring the voice of Barry Cryer), ’Wilbury Summer’ (released 1997), ‘The Rucenitsa Guitar Quartet' (flute, guitar, viola and cello) and 'Superluminal' (voice, guitar, string-quartet & electronics). There is also a very early Clarinet Sonata (1982) and other instrumental works including numerous guitar solos (‘La Isla del Paraguay’, ‘Apreton de Manos’, ‘The Early Learning Sonata’), children’s songs and folk tunes as well as music for the BBC, including the BBC1 skating penguins logo & music for the CBBC cartoon series ‘Metalheads' (Telemagination). Richard Durrant has written, and sung, numerous songs for BBC Schools TV programmes Numbertime and Watch. He has also produced recordings for other artists including The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (‘The Secret of Life’ 2004) and Don Partridge (‘The Highwayman’ 2002).
In the early 1990s Durrant toured as lead guitarist with the band Sky. This was their last UK tour. Venues included the Barbican and The Royal Festival Hall, London. He went on to perform regularly with Herbie Flowers[2]
One of his more challenging performances is a stunning reinterpretation of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint for soloist and 20 pre-recorded guitars. His concerts are difficult to categorise as he covers many styles and often includes improvisations and electronic treatments – but he is, at his core, a classical performer.
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