In six concerts over three music-filled days, from Friday September 21 to Sunday 23, the International Composers Festival 2018 will feature live performances of some of the most exciting, melodic and appealing classical music being written today.
A record number of new compositions – more than a thousand – have been submitted from all over the world for the event. Composers will be attending from places as far away as Australia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Qatar and Argentina to hear their music being played – and in some cases to perform it themselves.
Unusually, many of the composers featured will be women. A Google search for the top 100 classical music composers comes up with just one woman. For this event, women will make up around 20% of the composers featured.
Composers were asked to submit pieces which were between three and seven minutes long. Around 60 of the best were then selected to be played live during the festival by the Artistic Director and Festival founder, Hastings-based Anglo-Argentinian composer Polo Piatti.
The criteria were simple. They had to be melodic to fit the festival’s mission. They had to be practical and form part of a balanced programme for each concert. And above all they had to be good.
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. Venues are the Opus Theatre, 24-25 Cambridge Rd, Hastings TN34 1DJ and the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea.
For full details of all six concerts, go to the website where you will also be able to hear samples of some of the music which will be played. Tickets are available now from the Hastings Tourist Information Centre (01424 451111) for the Opus Theatre and from the De La Warr Pavilion for all their concerts (01424 229111). Tickets for under-18s accompanied by a paying adult are free.
Image Credits: Peter Mould .