Joel Hastings

Joel Hastings (July 22, 1969 – May 26, 2016) was a Canadian pianist and faculty member at Florida State University's College of Music.He was the winner of the 8th International Web Concert Hall Competition in 2006 and the 1993 International Bach Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Hastings performed solo recitals across Canada and the United States, while his orchestral engagements included the Toronto Philharmonic, the Huntsville Festival Orchestra, and the Ann Arbor Concert Band.As a collaborative artist he toured internationally with vocal ensembles, performing in such venues as the Vatican and St. Paul's Cathedral. His recorded CDs include Sessions (2002), Liszt Transcending (2005), Chopin 24 Etudes (2005), and Songs and Dances (2008).His name is increasingly becoming associated with the piano transcriptions of Franz Liszt and the music of French composer Jean Roger-Ducasse.His performances were both original and individualistic, as exemplified by his superb recording of Rachmaninoff's "Polka de W.R.", arguably one of the best interpretations of that piece. Hastings unexpectedly died in 2016.