ABOUT US

Hastings International Piano is the independent charity that promotes the biennial Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, but its roots go back more than a century to the Hastings Musical Festival which has been taking place in Hastings since 1908.

The Concerto Competition was revived in 2005 and has evolved into an internationally-renowned competition for young concert pianists from around the world. In recent years its reputation has grown steadily and it is now considered to be one of the top piano competitions in the world, and one of the only ones that asks competitors to play complete concertos from the first round. It now enjoys partnerships with both the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Southbank Sinfonia.

As well as the piano competition, Hastings International Piano also runs a Learning & Participation programme and promotes other events such as an annual Gala concert (featuring winners from the competition). In 2020 it mounted the Hastings International Piano Festival, 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 2 week period. Hastings International Piano was constituted as an independent charity (registration number 1192703) in 2020. You can read more about the history of the competition here.