Joel Hastings
Canadian pianist Joel Hastings was born on 22 July 1969. He won the 1993 International Bach Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the eighth International Web Concert Hall Competition in 2006.
He gave recitals across Canada, the USA and Europe, and had orchestral engagements with the Toronto Philharmonic, The Huntsville Festival Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Florida State University Orchestra and the Michigan Chamber Orchestra. He also toured internationally with various vocal ensembles, performing at the Vatican and in St Paul's Cathedral.
He recorded Liszt piano transcriptions, Chopin's 24 Etudes and solo piano music by Carter Pann, and became associated with the music of Jean Roger-Ducasse.
He was an assistant piano professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee, USA.
Joel Hastings died unexpectedly from a heart attack on 26 May 2016, aged forty-six.