Guitarist Richard Durrant celebrates his 40th birthday with a performance of Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez, one of the most challenging pieces in the repertoire.

Wouldn't it have been better to perhaps settle for dinner with family and friends or, perhaps, a party?

"I'll party after the show," says Durrant, who went to school in Brighton and now lives in Shoreham. "I have to get into training for this piece. It's hard work but, once it's done, you just see how I'll party."

Durrant has worked with the Brighton Philharmonic on several occasions, including performances of a Howard Blake guitar concerto and one written by local composer Peter Copley.

"It is a great band and we all get on together very well," says Durrant of the orchestra.

"Conductor Barry Wordsworth is very tough but he's fair and always manages to get the best out of me."

But Richard is not just a classical guitarist. He plays folk music from all over the world, writes his own pieces, produces records and must be counted as one of the most eclectic musicians yet produced in Sussex.

Apart from monthly open-mic gigs at Shoreham Airport, he plays the Komedia regularly.

"I am obsessed with sound and the family of string instruments in particular. I now have my own recording studio at home and I can spend up to 16 hours a day there. Louise, my wife, often has to drag me out by the neck to put the children to bed or force me to eat."

Richard was a pupil at Varndean School in Brighton and picked up his first guitar when he was four years old.

"My dad taught me and was chuffed when I graduated from the Royal College of Music, especially having won the guitar prize," he says.

On November 15, he is performing at St John's Smith Square in London with a mixed programme of works by Albeniz and Scarlatti as well as his own compositions.

"I am passionate about music - all types and in every place. I've played for all the BBC radio networks and if you ring British Airways, the music they play, if they put you on hold, is me."

"That sort of work and other television work for schools and so on pays the mortgage and allows me the time and money to do other things."

The concert will include Bizet's Carmen Suite, Rossini's Overture to The Barber Of Seville and Walton's Symphony No 1.

For tickets, call 01273 709709.