Patron supports Hastings International Piano with concert and new composition

Regarded as ‘one of the world’s great pianists’ (Classical Music Magazine), Sir Stephen is also a composer, writer and painter and has more than 50 recordings to his name. He has performed in every major concert hall around the world, and is a regular at the BBC Proms, including a memorable performance at this year’s Last Night. His recital – comprising music by Chopin and Cecile Chaminade – is a rare opportunity to see a musician who is ‘at the top of his game’ (Musical America) perform in the intimate surroundings of a lovely private home. Guests will be invited to a champagne reception before the recital, and may also choose to attend a dinner afterwards with Sir Stephen as the guest of honour.

Sir Stephen said: “After visiting Hastings last year for the first time, I’m absolutely thrilled to be coming back to play a recital at Fairlight Hall. It’s a very special place and it will continue to be in my mind as I’m beginning to compose the test piece for the next competition. I’m very pleased to be Patron of Hastings International Piano: its work provides really vital support for the best young pianists just setting out on their careers.”

Artistic Director Professor Vanessa Latarche, added: “We are so pleased to welcome Sir Stephen back to Hastings for this recital and delighted that he’s agreed to write a short work for the 2026 competition. He is truly one of the world’s great pianists and I for one am very much looking forward to hearing him play. I’m sure it will be an unforgettable evening in a very good cause.”

Saturday 1 March from 6pm

Fairlight Hall, Fairlight, Hastings

To secure your place, email Mimi Scott, mimi.scott@hastingsinternationalpiano.org

Frédéric Chopin
Nocturne in E-flat major Op 9 No 2
Nocturne in F-sharp major Op 15 No 2
Scherzo No 2 in B-flat minor, Op 31
Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op 58

Cécile Chaminade 
6 Études de concert: No 2 Automne
Thème Varie 
Les Sylvains

Hastings International Piano is the independent charity that promotes the biennial Hastings International Piano 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 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 Sinfonia Smith Square.

The 18th Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition will take place from 26 Feb – 7 March 2026. 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).

X: @HIPCC Facebook: @hastingsconcertocompetition  Instagram: @hastingspianoconcerto

Sir Stephen Hough (www.stephenhough.com)

One of the most distinctive artists of his generation, Sir Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer.

Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Hough was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (2001). He was awarded Northwestern University’s 2008 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano, won the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award in 2010, and in 2016 was made an Honorary Member of RPS. In 2014 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.

Since taking first prize at the 1983 Naumburg Competition in New York, Sir Stephen has appeared with most of the major European, Asian and American orchestras and plays recitals regularly in major halls and concert series around the world from London’s Royal Festival Hall to New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has been a regular guest at festivals such as Aldeburgh, Aspen, Blossom, Edinburgh, La Roque d’Anthéron, Hollywood Bowl, Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Tanglewood, Verbier, Blossom, and the BBC Proms, where he has made 29 concerto appearances, including playing all of the works of Tchaikovsky for piano and orchestra, a series he later repeated with the Chicago Symphony.

Many of his catalogue of over 60 albums have garnered international prizes including the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or, Monde de la Musique, several Grammy nominations, eight Gramophone Magazine Awards including ‘Record of the Year’ in 1996 and 2003, and the Gramophone ‘Gold Disc’ Award in 2008, which named his complete Saint-Saens Piano Concertos as the best recording of the past 30 years. His 2012 recording of the complete Chopin Waltzes received the Diapason d’Or de l’Annee, France’s most prestigious recording award. His 2005 live recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos was the fastest selling recording in Hyperion’s history, while his 1987 recording of the Hummel concertos remains Chandos’ best-selling disc to date.

Published by Josef Weinberger, Sir Stephen has composed works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble, organ, harpsichord and solo piano. He has been commissioned by the Takacs Quartet, the Cliburn, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, the Gilmore Foundation, The Genesis Foundation, the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, London’s National Gallery, Wigmore Hall, Le Musée de Louvre and Musica Viva Australia among others.

A noted writer, Sir Stephen has contributed articles for The New York Times, the Guardian, The Times, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, and he wrote a blog for The Telegraph for seven years which became one of the most popular and influential forums for cultural discussion and for which he wrote over six hundred articles. He has published four books: The Bible as Prayer (Bloomsbury and Paulist Press, 2007); a novel: The Final Retreat (Sylph Editions, 2018); a book of essays: Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More (Faber & Faber and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019); and a memoir: Enough: Scenes from Childhood (Faber & Faber, 2023).

Sir Stephen resides in London where he is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester. He is also a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School.

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