Rate My Professor Robert Levin

Robert Levin serves as Adjunct Professor in the John J. Cali School of Music within the College of the Arts at Montclair State University. He directs the MSU West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble, fostering student engagement with traditional West African music through drumming, singing, and dancing. A specialist in traditional West African music, Levin is a film composer and musician who speaks many musical languages. He has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, West Africa, and the Caribbean, weaving diverse Western and non-Western genres into an expressively cohesive style. Under his leadership, the ensemble performs at campus events including Cali Midweek Concerts, Diaspora: A Celebration of Black Art, and collaborations with the Symphonic Band and Afro-Caribbean Ensemble. Repertoires feature pieces such as Gahu, an Ewe social dance, and traditional recreational music of the Ga people from Accra, Ghana.

Levin's professional career includes composing for the feature film Inside directed by Arthur Penn, documentaries, television, and Broadway productions like The Lion King, where he performed on keyboards and percussion. He founded a public school in Kopeyia, Ghana, with Godwin Agbeli in 1988 to promote music education. Levin studied West African music with Professors Abraham Adzenyah, Freeman Donkor, and Godwin Agbeli at Wesleyan University and the University of Ghana. He also teaches composition at Hofstra University and brings West African traditions to students across numerous schools. His contributions extend to chamber music ensembles and professional development sessions for music educators at Montclair State University.