If you’ve never heard a full orchestra play live before, you’re in for a treat this month. Hastings International Piano (HIP) is delighted to present what promises to be the musical highlight of 2025: a Gala Concert featuring one of the world’s top orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, returning to Hastings for the first time since the finals of the Hastings International Piano Competition in March 2024. The 50-piece orchestra, conducted by Scott Dunn, will perform Romantic piano concertos by Chopin and Rachmaninov with the phenomenally talented young pianists who thrilled audiences and took the first and second prizes at the 2024 competition, Curtis Phill Hsu and Harmony Zhu.
Canadian pianist Harmony Zhu, 19, is no stranger to the limelight. A child chess prodigy, she’s appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show three times and is now studying at Harvard University in the USA. She will be soloist in Chopin’s poignant and romantic First Piano Concerto, written when he was just 20.
American-Taiwanese Curtis Phill Hsu, 20, lives and studies in Austria and now has a packed concert diary as a result of winning first prize at the competition in 2024. He will perform one of the most popular pieces ever written – Rachmaninov’s monumental Second Piano Concerto, which was a hit from its very first performance and has become part of popular culture thanks to its use in David Lean’s film Brief Encounter and later in Eric Carmen’s hit All By Myself, later covered by Celine Dion.
The concert takes place on Saturday, September 27 at the White Rock Theatre, Hastings, on the very stage where Rachmaninov himself – not to mention other musical luminaries such as Edward Elgar and Vladimir Horowitz – once performed.
Before the concert there’s a special event hosted by comedian, conductor, and St Leonard’s resident Rainer Hersch who will be in conversation with Sarah Bardwell, new managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This free event gives a fascinating (and entertaining) insight into the life of a symphony orchestra, and how playing for a competition differs from what usually goes on in the concert hall.
Despite the cost of bringing a full orchestra to Hastings, HIP has made every effort to make the concert accessible to all. Tickets start from £23 and are free for young people aged 18 and under. A proportion of tickets are available free to teachers, nurses, and care workers – please contact Rosa Amor (rosa.amor@hastingsinternationalpiano.org) for more details.
Image Credits: Ben Wright , Bob Moulds for Hastings International Piano , Steve Painter for Hastings International Piano .