In celebration of his fourth decade as an independent soloist, maverick guitarist and composer Richard Durrant presents his 2026 tour: The Art of Levitation.

Performing in the inaugural week of his tour at the Theatre by the Lake, on Thursday, April 30, 2026, 7.30pm.

The 2026 tour revisits many communities that have sustained Durrant’s grassroots following for decades.

The concerts are intimate, high-quality live experiences in much-loved regional venues.

In an era when small venues face mounting challenges, The Art of Levitation is both a celebration and a statement: live music, real spaces, transformative experience.

This year Richard Durrant celebrates 40 years since graduating from the Royal College of Music and making his London debut at the Purcell Room.

An artist shaped by difference

Durrant’s story is not a conventional one.

Raised in a working-class family in Brighton, he struggled at school with undiagnosed autism and ADHD.

Yet alongside those challenges came an extraordinary early focus.

By his early teens he was composing prolifically, passing Grade 8 guitar, cello and theory at an unusually early age.

He led the cello section of the Brighton Youth Orchestra and, aged just 16, toured with them in Portugal as soloist in the Concierto de Aranjuez.

He had also started playing floor spots in local Folk Clubs and was double bassist in a busy bluegrass band.

His neurodiversity, which he now speaks about with candour and generosity, has shaped both his artistry and his independence. 

“Music and the arts have helped me throughout my life,” Durrant says.

“I’ve learned to harness some essential balancing forces and have begun to understand why music exists.”

For audiences, and for young musicians navigating similar challenges, his particular journey offers proof that difference can become a source of originality and resilience.

He adds: “I am very much looking forward to returning to Keswick and sharing my music and musings with the wonderful audience at this spectacular venue on the shores of the beautiful Derwent Water.”

Durrant has built a sustainable creative life not by fitting in, but by leaning into his own way of thinking and working.

In more recent years he has cycled around 9,000 miles between concerts around the British Isles showing his determination to reduce his carbon footprint, at one point averaging 35,000 miles per year, and highlight climate change, he often appears onstage next to his bicycle and trailer.

A programme that bridges worlds

The Art of Levitation tour reflects the full span of Durrant’s musical life.

From the prize winning student at the Royal College of Music to a folk music obsessed misfit whose Mum rang up the South Bank Centre from the care home where she worked to organise his debut gig.

Amongst the stories there will be works by Scarlatti, Bach, Purcell, Renbourn, Jansch, Barrios and Durrant.

All played on a guitar made from a 5,000-year-old English bog oak.

The title work The Art of Levitation is central to the 2026 tour programme.

This is one of Durrant’s most hypnotic recent compositions and a standout moment of his 2025 concerts.

For Tickets please contact the box office at The Theatre on the Lake.