Celebrating new classical music with unique festival in Hastings and Bexhill

More than 1,000 new pieces of music have been submitted from all over the world for this year's International Composers Festival in Hastings and Bexhill from September 21-23.
De La Warr Pavilion hosts International Composers FestivalDe La Warr Pavilion hosts International Composers Festival
De La Warr Pavilion hosts International Composers Festival

The Festival, the fourth in recent years, is the only one of its kind anywhere and aims to promote universally appealing new classical music.

Composers were asked to submit pieces between three and seven minutes long. Around 60 were then selected by Artistic Director and founder, Hastings-based Anglo-Argentinian composer Polo Piatti.

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The criteria were simple; They had to be melodic, they had to be practical and form part of a balanced programme for each concert, and they had to be good.

Piatti says that for many years a strong trend developed towards the intellectualisation of music. “While I recognise and appreciate the importance of progression in classical music, it is equally important that music remains accessible to all. By creating the Composers Festival, I wanted to maximise that inclusiveness and showcase and promote the works of new as well as of established composers that are committed to expressing feelings in classical music.”

The compositions will be performed by the International Festival Orchestra, which features both professional and talented local amateur musicians, as well as by numerous professional instrumentalists and singers.

The Festival will begin with a concert Passion at the Opus Theatre in Hastings at 7pm on Friday September 21 featuring “exciting music you have never heard before.”

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On Saturday September 22 there will be three concerts at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. Small Is Beautiful at 10.30am will consist of new chamber music by composers from around the world, played by international and local soloists and ensembles.

At 1.30pm the Brighton Film Quartet will present Soundscape, a mesmerising blend of cinematic music and ambient sound track set to stunning big screen visuals created by 15 international filmmakers.

At 7pm Camera – Sound – Play! will feature the International Festival Orchestra performing iconic film and TV soundtracks together with some of today’s most exciting gaming music.

At 10.30am on Sunday September 23 at the DLWP, Total Piano - East Meets West will see the Polo Piatti in conversation with two exciting young pianists, Sunny Li from China and Oliver Poole from the UK, who will both perform some enticing new pieces.

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The final concert at 4pm on Sunday, Dancing Around The World will feature the world premiere of a specially commissioned ballet. The Crane’s Wife, by Japanese composer Nobuya Monta. There will also be six new Symphonic Dances, choreographed and performed by local dance schools.

Tickets available from the Hastings Tourist Information Centre (01424 451111) for the Opus Theatre and from the DLWP (01424 229111). Tickets for under-18s accompanied by a paying adult are free. www.composersfestival.com.