Singing

The Singing Syllabus for the 2025 Hastings Musical Festival will be available from 1st September via playandperform and entries open on 1st October and close on 30th November 2024. There have been a number of changes to the singing syllabus so please make sure you read it carefully. Many classes now have school year groupings i.e. Year 6, Year 9 etc. When an entry is made, entrants must be in the relevant school year in order to take part.

Copies of Own Choice music can now be uploaded onto Play and Perform, should you wish. Paper copies can still be handed into the adjudicator's table if you prefer. Please note, we will retain and destroy any photocopies which are not legally authorised copies. Lyrics and music copies are not required for Pop Vocal classes.

Our syllabus covers music from all genres, so we are confident that there will be something that you would enjoy taking part in!

Our projected dates for 2025 are: Pop Vocals Sunday 23rd February. Music Theatre 3rd and 4th March. Classical Singing 5th and 6th March. School Choirs and Youth Choirs 6th March. Showcase Choirs and Adult Choirs 19th March.

Please note that we will now be using the new BIFF marking scheme, details of which will be found in our main rules. Our adjudicators are really looking forward to seeing you! If you have any queries, I can be contacted on [email protected].
Ann Hohenkerk Singing Section Secretary

Maria Jagusz trained as a dancer before taking up a place at the Royal Northern College of Music where she was awarded the Ricordi Prize for Opera. Further scholarships enabled her to continue her studies at the National Opera Studio.

As a singer Maria has worked as soloist for most of the leading opera companies in the UK and Europe. Her roles include Carmen, Cherubino, Orlofsky, Hansel, Dorabella and Rosina. She has performed with many of the worlds leading singers including Domingo, Carreras, Freni and Dame Felicity Lott. Her last role was Filipevna in Eugene Onegin for Mid Wales Opera just before lockdown. She is a keen recitalist and a regular soloist for choral societies in the UK.

As a teacher Maria has specialised in training students who are hoping to have professional careers in the world of opera and musical theatre. As well as her private teaching practice she is vocal consultant for the International College of Music Theatre in London.

In order to give students the experience they need to succeed in this competitive industry she formed MJ-UK Music and Arts, As part of their training Maria believes that getting as much performing experience both in concert and on stage is vital for the development of young talent. She arranges many concerts both in the Cotswolds and in Cornwall where young singers can get the chance to perform in a safe welcoming environment. For MJ-UK she has directed Carmen, Bastien and Bastienne, Dido and Aeneas, Les Miserables, West Side Story, Secret Garden, Jesus Christ Superstar, Seussical and most recently a production of “The Marriage of Figaro” for Stroud Arts Festival.

Maria has worked for the education department for Longborough Festival Opera for the past ten years where she leads and devises workshops introducing opera to young people. For their Young Artist Programme she has directed Little Sweep, Dido and Aneas, La Boheme, Sweeney Todd and Orfeo Ed Euridice. Last summer she directed Hansel and Gretel in a socially distanced “Playground Opera“ production which toured to over a thousand children in the South West.

Future work includes directing “The Downfall Of Don Jose” an educational project to introduce youngsters to the opera “Carmen” for Longborough Festival Opera.

Roy trained as a performer at the Royal College of Music and was a major prize winner: the Leslie Alexander - the highest award available on the viola. He was a dual first study viola pupil of Frederick Riddle and piano pupil of Angus Morrison. He holds a complete suite of performing and teaching diplomas on his first instruments, plus a performing diploma on violin, and an MA in music. He also has a background as an organist and vast experience as a choir trainer and conductor.

Roy has spent most of his career combining teaching, performing, examining and adjudicating. He has taught academic music to A Level, his instruments to diploma level and the violin to RAM Exhibitioners. He has coached numerous orchestral and singing courses and festivals for children and has conducted many adult choral societies performances. He has arranged and composed countless pieces for choirs and instrumental combinations, and has several of his works published. Following appointments in various public schools, mostly as Director of Music, he is now enjoying a return to freelance life.

He has extensive experience as a performer, in orchestras and ensembles, and as accompanist and recitalist. He is a busy ABRSM grade, diploma and jazz examiner and has worked all over the world, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Qatar, Jordan, South Africa, Namibia, USA, Bermuda, China and Germany (examining in German). He is the viola consultant for ABRSM, selector of the present viola syllabus, and has presented teacher meetings/training abroad.

As an adjudicator member of the British and International Federation of Music Festivals, Roy is on demand at some of the U.K.’s largest music festivals. He not only enjoys adjudicating his specialist areas, but also the complete range of classes as a generalist. He is also very happy to adjudicate online festivals.

Away from music, he can often be found looking after or driving one of his classic cars.

Kenneth Roberts was born in Hastings and educated at York University where he gained BA and MA degrees in music specialising in conducting and the music of Poulenc.

He has worked as Conductor/Musical Director for numerous companies at home and abroad and has conducted over 250 opera, ballet and other theatrical productions. He has played and conducted at many prestigious venues including The Royal Albert Hall, The Festival Hall, The Britten Theatre, Kensington Palace and Hampton Court.

His second opera, ‘Mister Butterfly,’ which he wrote in 1994 was premiered in Hong Kong and subsequently performed at the Edinburgh Festival, and featured in a documentary shown by BBC television and BBC World Service Satellite.

Between 2001-2011 he worked at the University of New Hampshire, USA, where he directed a new ‘African’ Musical, that he was commissioned to write, and also composed music for an award-winning ‘international’ children’s piece. He was also musical director and conductor for Plymouth State University's Educational Theatre Collaborative.

In 2002 he fulfilled a commission from the Purcell School in association with the Vaughan-Williams Trust as part of their centenary celebrations to mark the birth of Sir William Walton and in 2007 he completed a commission to write a ballet based on the novel ‘The Trumpet Major’ by Thomas Hardy. In 2010 he also contributed music for the recently published musical version of ‘Pollyanna’ and also became a BIFF (British and International Federation of Festivals) adjudicator.

His highly acclaimed reduced orchestral arrangements of operatic scores by Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini and others are currently being played all over the world and are available from ‘www.smallscores.com’
In between times he has enjoyed giving his series of lecture recitals around the country at music clubs, and on cruise liners on subjects ranging from Mozart to ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton and recently released a CD of piano music entitled ‘Around the World in 80 minutes’