Plymouth’s Levinsky Hall opens with inaugural season

The University of Plymouth has announced the inaugural season of its new classical music venue, the Levinsky Hall. The newly renovated venue will bring world-class performers to England’s South West to present public performances, open rehearsals, and informal talks.

Originally intended as a music venue when the University’s flagship Roland Levinsky Building was completed in 2007, the Levinsky hall was used as a lecture theatre until Robert Taub, director of music at the university’s Arts Institute began to investigate the space’s potential after joining the organisation in 2018.

Taub said: ‘It seemed to be natural to bring music into the atrium of the Levinsky building. So I set to work and talked to a few people and what we're talking about today is the result of several years of planning and work.’

Renovation work has included the installation of on-stage acoustic panels, the adjustment of some of the hall’s existing theatrical equipment and the removal of sound-absorbing foam from the back of the hall. Following these acoustic improvements, the hall will receive some cosmetic updates before opening for its first concert on 15 October 2022.

Taub, who has performed internationally as a concert pianist and recording artist, will perform the Hall’s opening concert before welcoming violinist Mathilde Milwidsky, and pianist Huw Watkins for the season’s second concert in November.

Following the opening season, planning for the hall’s future is already underway and Taub is aiming to commission works for the new venue. Taub said: ‘Now that we have a larger stage that is really ideal for larger chamber orchestras that's what we intend to do. We have a fantastic Steinway piano that's very well maintained, so we'll be having a variety of types of concerts including new music, which is very important to me.’ He added that: 'Being involved in new music is exciting because it's cutting edge, but it also provides a context for older music.'

An important aspect of Levinsky Hall’s programme will be public pre-concert talks designed to share interpretive insights with audiences. Taub described their appeal: ‘Here in the South there is a hunger for, not only good music and music played with conviction, but there's a very strong appetite for communicating another way, going across the floodlights, for artists being human and sharing what we think about, what feelings we bring to our experiences of performing, what the music means to us personally and how we communicate that.’

You can find tickets for this season's opening concert, Romantic Piano, given by Robert Taub here.

You can find tickets for Mathilde Milwidsky and Huw Watkins' concert, Virtuoso Violin, here.

You can find out more about the new Levinsky Hall here.