VP#141: The Magic of Music and Maybe with Emmy-Award Winning Pianist and Composer Peter Manning Robinson

Join us beginning in June for Vegan Peace, the virtual support group for vegans! Find your peace, speak your piece, and connectt - and yes, vegan venting welcome :)Vegan Peace - Find your peace, speak your piece, and connect.WHEN: Tuesdays, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. CentralWHERE: ⁠https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82407679747Questions? Email ⁠[email protected] for personal coaching or vegan lifestyle coaching? Email Chrissy directly: ⁠[email protected]⁠Help normalize veganism through the arts! Make vegan women's fiction classic, Marrying Myself, an international bestseller - grab your copy on Amazon or through my website, ⁠https://christinemelaniebenson.com/⁠Amazon:⁠https://www.amazon.com/Marrying-Myself-Christine-Melanie-Benson/dp/1685130763/⁠Do you value what we do? Support the Vegan Posse by becoming a monthly member for only $5/month: https://buymeacoffee.com/veganposse"Desert Pete" by the Kingston Trio: https://youtu.be/_WUf-SUSzhQ?si=IhPSehYDO-oYc_f1This week's episode with Peter Manning Robinson: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. 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. "Heartbreak” is a raw, heart-wrenching meditation on the universal pain of loss after a breakup. The second single "Bent Out of Shape" is a lively and joyful listen filled with whimsical notes. The stunning music video by Klaus Hoch tells the story of reconciling a relationship through a surreal tour of a shared history. The video takes place in a picturesque mansion above the sea. 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.”Follow Peter Manning Robinson HERE:Website: https://www.petermanningrobinson.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/petermanningrobinson"Bent Out of Shape": https://youtu.be/Jf0Z0P10rP4?si=1xDsaDufk0zCH0Bi"Pure Heartbreak": https://youtu.be/iLiglCKDZ6I?si=hp0Dp4b4jDzyRhOp