The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Cup

Return of the Finchley Chamber Orchestra

Online Entries

Battle of the Bands

Calling all budding Rock Bands......don't forget our awesome 'Battle of the Bands' taking place on Wed 7th March 2012 at the White Rock Theatre. Sponsored by Bonners of Eastbourne, with great cash prizes for the winning bands, and for the best original songs, its a day not to be missed! Heading up the judging panel will be the great Paul Roberts, former lead singer of The Stranglers. Get your entries in now!

Piano Concerto Competition reaches new heights!

Hastings Piano Concerto Competition reaches new heights....we have now joined the Alink-Argerich Foundation. Please pass on the word, and encourage as many people as possible to come along and see this fantastic competition next year. The preliminary rounds are on 5th and 6th of March, and the Finals are on 24th March.

Sad News

All of our Members and Friends will be saddened to hear of the death yesterday, of our Vice-President John Woodhams.
He has been a great supporter of the Hastings Musical Festival for many years and a tremendous inspiration to young people.
We will remember with fondness his unique way of compering the prize winners concerts until a few years ago, and also as platform steward for the dancing section.
We will miss his sense of humour.
The Executive Committee sends its condolences to all the family.  He will be greatly missed.

Gold Medals

An important date for your Diary.

The Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebration Concert
The White Rock Theatre
Saturday 2nd June 2012 7.00pm

New for 2012 in the Singing Section!

New Prizes and Awards

• Additional prizes of Folk Song Collections and Music Tokens for Junior Unaccompanied Folk Song classes (Classes 2014, 2108 and 2112)
• New Aggregate Singing Trophy for Age 12 and under 16
• Cash prize of £100 for Gold Medal Class (Class 2276)

New Classes

• New Junior Recital Class for Age 13 and under 18 (Class 2134)
• New Pop Vocal Class for Age 9 and under 13 (Class 2100)

New Age Limits

• New classes open to Age 16 and over (not just over 18):

-          Gilbert and Sullivan (Class 2232)

-          Music Hall (Class 2256)

• Verse and Song class open to Age 16 and over (not just under 18s) (Class 2056)

Other Changes to Classes

• Pop Vocal Ensemble class now also open to Duets (Class 2334)
• Time limit in Show Song Duet classes increased (Classes 2300 and 2304)
• Age limits in Pop Vocal classes changed – please check carefully

Singing Trophies Needed!

 Perhaps you won a class in the past and would like future winners to have a trophy?  Is there a particular style of singing which you enjoy and would like to encourage?  Or maybe you just would like to support the Festival, or give something back after years of taking part?

2011 Festival

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That is a long time counted in little children rehearsing their dances, and young instrumentalists practising their pieces for the big day, not to mention all the preparation by our actors and singers. And whilst the Festival continues to develop over the years, with new classes and new ideas, the essence of the Festival remains the same, to give young people, and amateurs of all ages, the opportunity to come together to perform, be it a six year old’s humorous poem, a twelve year old’s trumpet solo, a young singer’s vocal pop song or operatic aria, a ballad from one of our veteran singers, or a large dance group, a school choir or a rock band.

As a registered charity, our commitment remains as ever - the provision of excellent performance opportunities with the input of qualified and experienced adjudicators during the Festival, and the annual awarding of special grants to young performers as they go off to college or conservatoire to continue their studies.

Our big news this year was the announcement of Petula Clark, CBE as our new president. We feel privileged to welcome such a celebrated artiste, who began her performance career as a child and is still an international star. We look forward to her being with us at the Festival Finale on Saturday 19^th March to present the special awards, and to enjoy the concert given by our young and talented performers, including the presentation of the Bexhill Honda Award for Excellence of £1000. Please book your seats early for this very special evening.

This year marks our seventh International Piano Concerto Competition. If you have never attended the Finals before, I urge you to come to enjoy the exciting performances of three talented young pianists on Saturday 12^th March at 6.00pm. The occasion also presents a wonderful first orchestral concert experience for young people, and this year we are offering a limited number of free tickets to accompanied children.

My thanks always to all our entrants, to our audience, our team of volunteer helpers, our executive committee for their round the year work, and our indefatigable general secretary, as well as to the management and staff of the White Rock Theatre.

I wish you all a happy 2011 Festival.

 Molly

2011 Programme

Entry form available for download.

Well Done!

"Molly is thrilled with her achievements winning so many trophies and to top it off winning the fabulous Bexhill Honda award. We both enjoyed the Festival, what a lovely atmosphere it was, all the helpers and committee are always so kind and encouraging towards Molly which is so lovely for her. They have watched Molly perform from a very young age and now she has grown into a young lady! We love the Hastings Festival and our family has been involved for about 54 years!! As I've said before, it has become a family tradition. Of course Molly has her dancing teacher, Amanda Lacey from 'Lacey Theatre Arts' to thank for helping her to achieve her goals." - Sarah Moyse.

Can you help us?

Syllabus Corrections!

Annual General Meeting