Hastings Chamber Music Festival
Bringing together the highest calibre musicians for concerts on the East Sussex Coast.
Resounding Nature
Concerts on the East Sussex Coast
23- 26 October Festival 2025
The 2025 Hastings Chamber Music Festival promises to be our most ambitious and varied programme to date, offering a vibrant mix of four chamber music concerts that span an impressive 350 years of repertoire, from the Baroque to contemporary works. This year’s festival showcases an exciting range of performances, featuring both established musicians and emerging talent, and proudly features a strong representation of works by female composers.
The Festival opens with Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen Septet, performed by the Felix Ensemble. The Hermes Experiment follows with a richly varied programme, ranging from the Baroque elegance of Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre to contemporary voices like Errollyn Wallen and Caroline Shaw. Apollo’s Cabinet presents a dedicated early music performance, paired with Elements, a newly commissioned work by Orlando Gough.
We close the Festival with a special appearance by renowned composer Sally Beamish, who will take part in a pre-concert ‘Artists in Conversation’ event. The afternoon culminates in the Rautio Piano Trio’s performance of her evocative piece, Seafarer.
CONCERT 1
Oct 23rd Christ Church 7pm
Felix Ensemble – lead by artistic director Jane Gordon
Metamorphoses & Resilience: A Journey Through Strauss and Shostakovich
CONCERT 2
Oct 24 Kino Teatr 7pm
Hermes Experiment
‘Tree’
CONCERT 3
Oct 25 Christ Church 7pm
Apollo’s Cabinet
‘Elements’
CONCERT 4
Oct 26 Kino Teatr 3pm
Rautio Piano Trio & Narrator Oliver Beamish
Echoes of the Sea and Soul: Sally Beamish & Beethoven
Box office information coming soon.
spring/summer
Fringe concerts 2025
3 – 5pm August 24th (2025)
Summer Gala Concert & Drinks Reception
Jane Gordon & Friends
Beethoven String Quartet Op.18/1
Music by Bach, Purcell, Mendelssohn
MUSIC SALON
Highlands Gardens
St Leonards-on-Sea
Tickets £30, Festival Friends £25 + priority booking
Email to book: hastingemf@gmail.com
11am August 31st (2025)
Sunday Coffee Concert, Kino Teatr
Jane Gordon (violin)
Jan Rautio (piano)
Minimalism Meets Melody
Arvo Pärt ‘Fratres’
Lili Boulanger ‘Nocturne’
Beethoven Sonata no.10 in G Op.96
About the festival
Welcome to Hastings Chamber Music Festival. At the heart of the Festival is the desire to bring together the highest calibre musicians for performances of some of the most deeply expressive music.
Artistic director, violinist Jane Gordon, invites to Hastings a wonderful line up of Europe’s most prestigious chamber musicians, frequently heard on BBC Radio 3 and in the finest concert halls such as the Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Glyndebourne Opera and more.
Our ethos is to create time and space to share with audiences incredible chamber music, both well known and less familiar. Throughout the festival we feature ‘artist in conversation’ Q & A events and opportunities to meet the players after the concerts.
“Inspired by the music we love and the art of live performance, I want to engage our listeners to contemplate the significance and relevance the Arts can hold in our culture today. We aim to give music a platform to connect to wider topics relevant to today’s cultural and political landscape.” – Jane Gordon, artistic director
Join our festival friends and help support live music
Our Festival Friends enjoy a range of benefits including exclusive event invites and reserved seating at Christchurch. We are now a registered charity and having exciting plans on the horizon for bringing more concerts to the Hastings area. Help us grow and continue to present these wonderful concerts.