Rye has been fortunate enough to be co-host of this year’s sixteenth Hastings International Piano Concerto competition, which started last month on 24 February. Stage 1 of the competition was held at the Rye Creative Centre. The 12 semi-finalists have performed this week at the White Rock Theatre, but you still have an opportunity to witness some of these incredibly talented artists at the finals, on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5 where six finalists are given the opportunity to perform a complete concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The most prestigious piano maker, Steinway and Sons, is the piano sponsor and a first prize of £15,000 will be awarded to the winner.
Hastings International Piano Festival was curated to raise funds for both the planned programme of educational outreach for children and young people in Hastings, Rye and the East Sussex surrounding area, and their globally respected international piano concerto competition. The piano festival was a multi-genre celebration of the piano involving pop, classical, jazz and contemporary musicians and singer/songwriters, and produced world-class concerts while maintaining a focus on engaging with and giving learning opportunities to young people in the south coast Sussex region during the festival’s two week period.
The Hastings International Piano Concerto competition has evolved from its earliest days as part of Hastings Music Festival to become an internationally-renowned competition for young concert pianists from around the world, attracting 170 applicants in 2019 across global auditions, 40 of which came to compete in Hastings. The inaugural Hastings International Piano Festival took place in February / March 2020 as the concerto competition moved to every other year.
I was lucky enough to meet managing director Ian Roberts in Rye and to witness a performance by a 22 year-old Italian pianist who performed Mozart’s piano concerto No 21 in C Major and Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, OP43. A spellbinding performance by any standards, my only regret being that I hadn’t had the opportunity to enjoy performances by other competitors who had been performing throughout the day and the previous day.
The main hall at the Rye Creative Centre is now an ideal concert venue, recently renovated at a cost of around £200,000, a warm, well lit, comfortable and welcoming auditorium which is the ideal setting for such a prestigious event.
Attendance figures could have been greater, it was an ideal opportunity for music teachers to treat their star pupils to see world-class artists performing live and being so close to the centre of town you would have expected to see more locals taking advantage of this unique opportunity but, for those who missed out you still have the chance to buy tickets for tonight, Friday and Saturday’s finals performances at the White Rock Theatre. Log onto www.hastingsinternationalpiano.org where you can find all the details of how to buy your tickets or contact the White Rock Theatre on 01424 882944. Believe me, if you are fortunate enough to secure tickets you really won’t be disappointed.
Image Credits: Hastings International Piano , Nick Forman .
It was a real treat to be there last Saturday to hear six young pianists play wonderful piano concertos. We are most impressed with the Creative Centre. Apart from the wonderful cultural experience it was easy to park the car (a rarity in Rye!) and enjoy wonderful homemade cakes, etc with a welcome cuppa at half-time. The Creative Centre is a real asset to Rye.