Before the Gala Concert on 27 September, comedian and conductor Rainer Hersch talks to the RPO’s new Managing Director Sarah Bardwell - an entertaining look at the life of an orchestra. FREE.

The 18th Hastings International Piano Competition is on sale now.

2022 prizewinner, Thomas Kelly returns to Sussex on 13 September for a solo recital at Vinehall School in Robertbridge.

2024 prizewinner, Derek Wang, gives an invitation-only recital in New York on 10 September with music by Beethoven, Robert & Clara Schumann, Ravel, Couperin and Charles Ives.

We’re very pleased to offer, for the first time, a four-day tour of English champagne country, devised exclusively for Patrons of Hastings International Piano, especially those based outside the UK. The programme invites you to experience the south coast in the final stages of the 2026 competition, and includes a tour of English champagne country, tours of public and private art collections and historic monuments, as well as tickets to the orchestral finals.

2022 third prizewinner Mariamna Sherling appears at this year’s South Downs Summer Music Festival in Alfriston on 18 July at 1pm.

Four of our previous prizewinners return to Hastings for a very special weekend of events at Fairlight Hall: Curtis Phill Hsu and Harmony Zhu, winner of first and second prize in 2024; Mariamna Sherling, who won third prize in 2022;  and Gabrielė Sutkutė.

Our own fab four - Curtis Phill Hsu, Harmony Zhu, Mariamna Sherling and Gabrielė Sutkutė - are all spectacular pianists in their own right. This afternoon’s concert offers a tantalising glimpse of each; all four will give a short but perfectly formed recital with music ranging from Rameau and Chopin, to Granados, Ravel and Debussy.