Thursday 12 March 2026
7pm
Silk Street Music Hall
Robert Levin in Residence: Lecture and Conversation
hosted by Guildhall School’s Centre for Creative Performance & Classical Improvisation
David Dolan | Head of the Centre for Creative Performance & Classical Improvisation
Robert Levin | International Chair of the Centre for Creative Performance & Classical Improvisation
Programme
There Is No Such Thing as Repeat
Searching for one’s expressive narrative and meaning while repeating
The presentation will focus on the relationship between melodic, harmonic, and dynamic elaboration and dramatic performance narratives. These options will be demonstrated in reference to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonatas with varied Reprises, classical period repertoire and beyond.
Robert Levin
Robert Levin has performed as a concert pianist throughout the world, appearing with major orchestras on the Steinway and with leading period instrument orchestras on early pianos. Renowned for his improvised cadenzas in classical repertoire, he has recorded Bach’s complete keyboard concertos, the six English Suites and both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier; a Mozart concerto cycle with Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music; the Beethoven concertos with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique; and the complete Beethoven sonatas and variations for fortepiano and cello with Steven Isserlis. Recent releases include the complete Mozart sonatas on Mozart’s Walter piano. A noted Mozart scholar, his completions of Mozart’s Requiem, Mass in C Minor and other unfinished works have been recorded and performed throughout the world. Awarded the Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig in 2018, he is presently Visiting Professor at The Juilliard School and International Chair of the Centre for Creative Performance & Classical Improvisation at Guildhall School.

Forthcoming Events
Robert Levin in Residence: Masterclass
Milton Court Concert Hall
13 March 2026
Pianist Robert Levin, arguably the world’s leading classical improviser, visits Guildhall School in his annual residency as International Chair of the Centre for Creative Performance and Classical Improvisation.
Robert Levin in Residence: Mozart and Beethoven
Milton Court Concert Hall
15 March 2026
Eclectic Voices and conductor Scott Stroman celebrate their 35th anniversary alongside three of their favourite collaborators: Robert Levin, David Dolan and Dame Emma Kirkby.
Composition: Piano & Strings Project
18 March 2026
Silk Street Music Hall
Guildhall composers collaborate with students from our Keyboard and String departments to present brand-new works in an evening of fresh and original music-making.

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Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
Chair of the Board of Governors
The Hon. Emily Benn
Principal
Professor Jonathan Vaughan FGS
Vice-Principal & Director of Music
Armin Zanner FGS
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