Almost at the end of week 1!

We are almost at the end of week 1 of this year's Festival, and what a week!

The three finalists for the International Piano Concerto have been selected and all performers have given excellent performances - Well Done!
Tonight we had almost everything, from Bagpipes to Madrigal Choirs competing to catch the judges eye and ear with their performances. Marks this year have been particularly high with the Adjudicators having many difficult decisions to make.

There are no sessions booked in for Monday the 8th, but we re-commence on the 9th with Keyboards in the Sussex Hall and the start of the Dancing classes in the Main Auditorium. We've managed to slot in the Accordions in the Sussex Hall on Saturday morning and don't forget about the Piano Concerto Finals to be held on Saturday Evening in the Main Auditorium. It promises to be another packed week.

Many thanks to our tireless team of volunteers who help it all run smoothly and most of all, thanks to you, our performers and the audience without whom, the Festival would not happen.

If you wish to support the Festival, please ask one of our many volunteers dotted around the White Rock Theatre, or click here for more information on how you can help this great Hastings tradition keep going from strength to strength.

 

The 2010 Festival is happening now!

We have over 3,000 performers in more than 2,000 seperate performances at the White Rock Theater. For the first time ever, we are going to be publishing the winners of each class as soon as each day's events are closed. To view the winners, please click here.

To view the schedule of classes, please visit our on-line schedule.  The first day of the Festival featured a full morning and afternoon of Piano Concerto entries, with a real 'buzz' happening below in the Sussex Hall, where the Recorder Bands attempted to raise the roof.

We are opening with our Piano Concerto preliminary rounds in the Main Hall on the 1st and 2nd of March, with Rock-Bands on the 3rd. For the solo orchestral fans we have Woodwind and Strings in the Sussex Hall on the 1st and 2nd of March respectively. Drama, Solo Singing and Choirs round off the end of the week on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of March. .

Week 2 is focussed on dancing in the Main Hall, with Keyboards on the 9th in the Sussex Hall. Please note, we do not have any events for the 8th of March. Singing continues in the Sussex Hall on the 9th, 10th and 11th of March, with the Accordion classes in the morning of the 13th.The  Piano Concerto finals are in the evening of the 13th

Week 3 continues the Dancing in the Main hall, with no morning sessions for the 16th and 17th. In addition, there are no classes in the afternoon of the 17th. Singing then occurs on the Thursday and Friday, with our concluding Concert on the 20th of March. During week three, we have the Piano classes in the Sussex Hall on Monday and Tuesday, with Drama rounding off the week.

We look forward to seeing you at what promises to be an exciting Festival.

Paul Roberts.
 

Paul Roberts is to adjudicate the Rock Band classes in the 2010 Musical Festival. He is probably best known for fronting the iconic major British band The Stranglers for 16 years, from 1990 – 2006. This period saw The Stranglers releasing 8 albums and 13 singles including Peaches, Heaven or Hell, Golden Brown and Big Thing Coming. Paul left The Stranglers in May 2006 after hitting the top of the charts again with the release of their highly acclaimed album Norfolk Coast.

Paul has recorded, written and appeared on over 30 albums and singles with artists including The Lightning Seeds, OMD and Nigel Kennedy.His work has been recorded with some of the best names in music including Alan Winstanley, Cenzo Townshend, Nicky Graham and Pete Glenister amongst others. Paul formed and still performs regularly with his band Soulsec.In 2008 Ivor Novello award winner Martin Phipps asked Paul to join him to record songs for the BBC drama department.