Keystones Piano Festival: Corey Mwamba/Robert Mitchell & Lucas Walters/Reece Soko-Fogg

This May, Keystones Piano Festival returns for a week of piano music in the historic Samuel Worth Chapel thanks to the loan of a Steinway grand piano from Music in the Round. Featuring a varied lineup of contemporary and classical compositions, this celebration of piano offers an intimate and atmospheric experience in a unique heritage setting. 

On Saturday, they’re partnering with Jazz at The Lescar to bring you an evening of fearless improvisation led by two of the UK’s most celebrated and inventive musicians. 

Pianist, composer and poet Robert Mitchell joins vibraphonist and broadcaster Corey Mwamba for a rare duo performance, marking nearly 30 years of collaboration. Ahead of the release of a new album, their set promises to be deep, intense and beautifully expressive — music created in the moment by two masters of their craft.

A Steinway Artist, Robert Mitchell is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading jazz pianists, with an international career spanning over 40 countries, 14 albums and countless collaborations across the global jazz scene. Corey Mwamba, nominated multiple times in DownBeat’s critics’ polls, is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary improvisation, working across vibraphone, dulcimer and electronics, and known to many as the former presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Freeness.

Opening the evening, Lucas Walters (piano) and Reece Soko-Fogg (saxophone) bring fresh energy from the UK’s emerging jazz scene. A BBC Young Jazz Musician semi-finalist, Walters is a compelling and boundary-pushing pianist, while Soko-Fogg — a rising voice from Leeds — blends afro-jazz, fusion and spiritual influences into a powerful, expressive sound.

Together, this is a night that moves from emerging talent to world-class improvisation — bold, unpredictable, and not to be missed.