Tour News - Tommy Emmanuel CGP announces Living In The Light NZ Tour NZ tour - May 2026

Presented by David Roy Williams

TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP is a living legend in the world of acoustic guitar, celebrated for his jaw- dropping technique, innovation, and boundless musicality. He has enthralled audiences around the globe with his dazzling fingerstyle performances, and now, New Zealand will have the privilege of witnessing his mastery up close and personal.

“I feel like the Indiana Jones of the guitar world,” says the globe-trotting fingerpicker. “I’m on this wild journey, just making it up as I go, and I’m thrilled that so many people are having fun joining along with me.”

TOMMY EMMANUEL - Hailed as “one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world” by NPR’s World Cafe, Tommy Emmanuel got his start at the age of six, when he first began touring his native Australia with his family’s band. As a teenager, he earned a reputation as a highly sought after sideman and session player, and by his early twenties, Emmanuel was playing on chart-topping hits and performing with acts like Air Supply and Men at Work.

Inspired in part by his hero, Chet Atkins (who would later become a friend, mentor, and collaborator), Emmanuel stepped out on his own as a solo artist in 1979, releasing the first in a string of acclaimed instrumental albums that would make him an unlikely celebrity in his home country and beyond. In the decades that followed, he would go on to headline everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall; tour with luminaries like Eric Clapton and John Denver; win a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement; perform for a televised audience of more than two billion at the Sydney Olympics; and collaborate with a who’s who of fellow guitar greats, including Les Paul, Mark Knopfler, Joe Walsh, Richard Thompson, Jason Isbell, and Billy Strings.

“As I get older, I find myself taking a lot more risks, and having a lot more fun in the process,” says Emmanuel, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday. “When young people come to my shows and have this awakening that it’s okay to be different, that the possibilities of music and self-expression are limitless, that’s what it’s all about for me.”

Recorded in just four days, Emmanuel’s latest album, LIVING IN THE LIGHT, stands as the most daring - and most rewarding - collection in the globetrotting fingerpicker’s remarkable catalogue, fusing his pop, jazz, classical, and roots influences into a virtuosic masterwork as exhilarating as it is intimate.

Tommy’s forthcoming concerts promise an awe-inspiring musical journey as Tommy takes the stage with his beloved Maton guitar, captivating hearts with each strum and pluck. Fans will be captivated by a diverse musical landscape, from breathtaking ballads to exhilarating up-tempo tunes.

Tickets for the TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP Living In The Light New Zealand Tour 2026 are expected to sell out quickly, so fans are encouraged to secure their seats early to avoid disappointment. Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to witness a true guitar virtuoso in action.

“I never felt like I needed to prove anything,” Emmanuel muses. “I’m always trying to get better, of course, but all I’ve ever cared about is entertaining people. If the ideas are flowing and the audience is having a good time, that means more to me than any awards or reviews ever could.”

Tour Dates:

TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP – LIVING IN THE LIGHT NZ TOUR:

Sunday May 17 - Town Hall, Auckland
Tuesday May 19 – Venue TBC, Hamilton
Thursday May 21 - Regent Theatre, Palmerston North
Friday May 22 - Opera House, Wellington
Saturday May 23 - Isaac Theatre, Christchurch

Ticket Sales:

Tickets on sale Friday September 12 at 1pm HERE

Follow Tommy Emmanuel: Website | Spotify | Instagram| Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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