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Pianist Robert Levin honored in concert at Sanders

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Robert Levin, the inaugural Dwight P. Robinson Jr. Professor of the Humanities at the Department of Music at Harvard, will retire from the University in 2014. As a tribute to Levin, the Music Department will honor him with a concert in Sanders Theatre on Wednesday March 27, 2013 at 8 p.m. Internationally renowned pianist Levin will perform pieces that he commissioned, premiered, or have been commissioned for him. These include Bernard Rands’ 12 Preludes, John Harbison’s Piano Sonata No. 2, Hans Peter Türk’s Träume, and Straccio vecchio and Sauce 180 by Yehudi Wyner. Knowing Levin’s skill with improvisation, there may some surprises as well.

Levin recently reflected on coming to Harvard, Music 180, musical truth, and the practice of performance.

“I hope in my tenure at Harvard I have persuaded students that one derives joy from passionate advocacy of what is truly serious. A composer puts a mirror to the audience and asks us to recognize ourselves. It’s the same as with great plays. Music is no less serious just because it is composed of tones, not words. One reads music just as deeply inside.”