Peter Manning Robinson is a Los Angeles- based pianist, Emmy Award–winning and multi–BMI Award–winning composer, inventor of the Refractor Piano™, and accomplished vegan chef whose music bridges innovation and cinematic scope with a deeply touching emotional depth.
Born in Chicago and raised between Vancouver and Los Angeles, Robinson began playing piano at age three and was performing professionally by twelve. His musical foundations, rooted in classical structure and jazz improvisation, were refined through formal studies at USC and Berklee College of Music, and through performances with jazz luminaries including Ernie Watts, Phil Woods, and Freddie Hubbard.
Robinson’s career spans film, television, orchestral, and live performance. His scores have earned an Emmy Award (KABC’s Above and Below) and five BMI Music Awards (Without a Trace), with orchestral works recorded by members of the London Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Musica Nova. In his early twenties, after developing severe tendonitis and being told he would never perform live again, he underwent a radical physical and artistic retraining process under Phil Cohen of Concordia University’s Leonardo Project, “unlearning” traditional piano technique and emerging with an entirely new physical and musical language.
That journey ultimately led to the invention of the Refractor Piano™, a radically reimagined acoustic piano that allows Robinson to create what he calls “Refracted Music”, live, fully acoustic performances with no pre-recorded tracks, MIDI instruments, or external sounds. Since debuting the Refractor Piano™ in 2016 at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, Robinson has presented acclaimed performances at venues including the Vortex Dome and the Museum of Modern Art DTLA. In 2021, he and longtime artistic collaborator and video director Klaus Hoch founded Owl Walk Records, an innovative artist-friendly musical label.
While much of Robinson’s recent work has centered on the Refractor Piano™, his upcoming neo-classical album Excursions marks a powerful return to solo acoustic piano. Compiled over a three-year period, Excursions is a deeply personal collection of compositions that navigate grief, heartbreak, resilience, and luminous hope. The album is filled with moments of fragile light, leaving listeners filled with love and creativity.
Written during a time shaped by global upheaval and personal loss, the album traces an emotional arc, from despair and fracture through struggle, renewal, and joy. “These pieces became my outlet,” Robinson explains. “I kept defaulting to the acoustic piano as a way to process grief and sadness. Over time, I realized I was creating a family of music that reflected what I—and many others—were going through.” Drawing from hundreds of recorded sketches, Peter Manning Robinson and Klaus Hoch carefully curated and refined the final works into a cohesive visual and musical journey, an immersive emotional tapestry.
The album’s title reflects its essence: excursions are brief journeys, departures from the expected path, and each piece is its own emotional voyage. Leading single “Pure Heartbreak” is a raw, heart-wrenching meditation on the universal pain of loss after a breakup. Musically, “Pure Heartbreak” reflects the ups and downs of a separation through gorgeous and melancholic-laced keys. It is a raw musical meditation with a melody unraveling with unflinching honesty. The accompanying music video is a cinematic mini film with Klaus Hoch telling the story of two lovers who part ways in a striking narrative against the backdrop of the California desert.
Cinematic, adventurous, emotive, and deeply human, Excursions is music meant to be felt. With striking twists and turns, romantic melancholy, and reflective hope, the album affirms Peter Manning Robinson’s belief that instrumental music can evoke images and emotions beyond language. As he puts it, “This is the work I am most proud of.”
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