In 2013 Eduardo Monteiro and Luciana Sayure first considered working systematically on the work of Alexandre Levy (1864-1892), whose sesquicentennial anniversary was approaching. As pianists and professors at the Music Department of the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo (USP), they organised a recital of works by Levy, performed by students from the Music Department at ECA-USP, during the XXIV National Congress of ANPPOM (National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Music), held in São Paulo. Perhaps surprisingly, this was one of the few or possibly the sole initiative to celebrate a significant anniversary of an artist of such great stature, highlighting the need for increased study and performance of Brazilian composers, especially those from the so-called Romantic period.

In 2017, support was obtained from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Brazil) (CNPQ) for a project Study and phonographic record of the piano works by Alexandre Levy (1864-1892), consisting of recording Levy’s work for solo piano and the publication of the results. This research is now complete with the recording of 23 pieces for solo piano by Alexandre Levy performed by pianists at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral level and by former students of the Music Department at ECA-USP. These are now available on YouTube, free and universally, through a partnership with the IPB (Brazilian Piano Institute). The project also has launched a publication, in the ANPPOM Music Research Series, presenting comments on Levy’s life, including analysis of his unpublished travel journal to Europe, dated 1887; an overview of his work, which contains careful and detailed lists of all his production; and considerations about his poetics, based on intertextual study.

Besides research into high quality musical work, the project aimed to encourage cooperation and teamwork, bringing together around a common objective a significant number of current and former piano students from the Music Department at ECA-USP. Such projects have helped create an environment of intense collaboration that contributes very positively to students’ training. Some pieces were recorded by more than one pianist, to permit several of them to get familiar with the work of this composer and to experience recording in the studio. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this initiative: Alexsandra Hsiao, Ariã Ai Yamanaka, Cristian Budu, Cristiano Vogas, Daniel Grajew, Daniel Toledo, Ester Yoshimoto, Felipe Balieiro, Gabriel Brandão, Gabriela Affonso, Guilherme Frazatto, Helber Fernandes Ribeiro, Helder Capuzzo, Júlio Pasquali, Leandro Isaac, Lucas Gonçalves, Lucas Thomazinho, Luiz Guilherme Pozzi, Marcos Vinicius Vieira, Mariana Carvalho, Mariana Rodrigues, Mateus Restani, Mattheus Versiani, Milena Lopes, Paulo Almeida, Pedro Sperandio, Richard Octaviano Kogima, Sílvia Molan and Vinicius Jordão.

The following researchers contributed to the resulting publication: Adriana Lopes da Cunha Moreira, Adriano Guilhen Bastoge Ferreira, Dersu Almeida Soares, Eduardo Monteiro, Luciana Sayure Shimabuco, Pedro Brack Aguilar, Pedro Sperandio and Said Tuma.

The recordings were made thanks to the valuable, prompt and tireless collaboration of Pedro Paulo Kohler, sound technician at the Music Informatics Laboratory of the Music Department at ECA-USP, who embraced and became a partner in this initiative. Thanks to Fernando Iazzetta and Marcos Branda Lacerda, coordinators of the aforementioned laboratory, for always making the studio available for recording.

A debt is due to Alexandre Dias, founder and director of the IPB (Brazilian Piano Institute) – an institution responsible for the intense work of digitization and online availability of research material that greatly contributes to the advancement of knowledge about the piano in Brazil – for his invaluable cooperation, producing and uploading the videos on YouTube with the audio of the recordings synchronized with Levy's scores.

This project is also especially grateful to Roberto Rodrigues, who revised and formatted the text of the publication; to Monica Vermes, editor of ANPPOM, for the trust placed in this initiative; to Danilo Toledo, who digitalised the musical examples; to Elaine Araújo, for constant support of the project; to Joel Crespin, Said Tuma and Dermot Scott for the translation of the texts into English, to Flávio Scramignon who built the website that houses the results of this project; and to the Levy family, especially Gabriel Levy, responsible for the Levy Archives, for his strong and constant support.