Bobby Mitchell, teacher of Improvisation and Keyboard Musicianship, has obtained his PhD at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels. On 7 May, he successfully defended his thesis Playing Schumann Again for the First Time.

In his thesis, Mitchell argues for a more flexible and creative approach to Schumann’s work, but in fact to all music which has been handed down in written form. Due to the fact that written music tells us little about the creative context in which music originated, contemporary performers will have to find their own ways of relating to their repertoire. With his research Bobby Mitchell hopes to inspire a more flexible and diverse performance practice of, in particular, canonical classical and romantic piano music.