The Refractor Piano Concert at MOCA

Peter Maning Robinson plays the Refractor Piano. Photo credit: Klaus Hoch.

Offering two FREE concerts for music aficionadi, Award-winning pianist and composer Peter Manning Robinson will enthrall audiences with a stunning aural and visual art experience on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA Grand) in Downtown Los Angeles: The Refractor Piano™ Concert at MOCA.

Performing live with his invention, The Refractor Piano™, Robinson is pioneering a new music form called “refracted music.” Without using prerecorded tracks, triggered samples, external sounds, or MIDI instruments, the Emmy and multiple BMI award-winning composer creates a vast spectrum of new musical environments with just a refracted, acoustic piano. Robinson plays “improvised compositions” within the refractions generated by his newly created instrument. The music combines elements of neoclassical composition and jazz improvisation that, when acoustically refracted, produce a truly original and transcendent live music experience. To learn more about the artist and concerts, please visit www.petermanningrobinson.com.

Having worked in the studio for many years with the project’s creative collaborator and co-developer, Klaus Hoch, this will be Robinson’s second live Refractor Piano™ concert after a successful debut in April at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA. Award-winning set and projection designer Hana Kim is creating a special projection accompaniment for the concert.

In addition to performing, Robinson will also speak about his music and The Refractor Piano™. The first performance will begin at 8:00pm (doors open 30-minutes prior) and the second performance will begin at 10:00pm. Ages 12-and-up are suggested. Light refreshments will be served. The dual concerts will take place at The Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90012 (213-626-6222). Find MOCA/Map/Parking Options here.

Both these concerts are FREE with reservations:

RSVP for the 8:00pm Refractor Piano™ Concert at MOCA on Eventbrite here: http://peter-manning-robinson-refractor-piano-moca.eventbrite.com

RSVP for the 10:00pm performance here: http://peter-manning-robinson-10pm-moca-show.eventbrite.com.

“This is a very different type of performance – the audience won’t be able to predict what to expect from moment to moment. The experience can be unsettling, but also, hopefully, evocative, transformative and beautiful. It all depends on the individual person and particular composition,” says Robinson.

In Robinson’s hands, The Refractor Piano™, an adapted Steinway piano, is capable of generating a remarkable array of never heard before sounds. While the music is composed and the performance process is well-planned, “refracting” the piano’s raw, acoustic sound makes each performance unique and never an exact reproduction. As Robinson performs, he rides the refractions as he bends and morphs the raw sound. The new textures he creates – the acoustic “refractions” – are used to generate the distinct “instruments” and “voices” heard in each composition. Using the keyboard, fingers, mallets, and other implements, Robinson uses the entire piano to conjure up his new music.

Combining visual and aural elements, the concert will create a multi-sensory experience for the audience. In collaboration with Hoch and Robinson, Kim has designed visual projections that will interweave with and heighten the visceral experience of Robinson’s music. Exploring new musical vistas, The Refractor Piano™ Concert at MOCA will be an adventure for the ears and eyes.

The Refractor Piano™ Concert at MOCA

• music by Emmy & multiple BMI award-winning composer-pianist Peter Manning Robinson (PMR)

• visuals by award-winning set & projection designer Hana Kim

TWO PERFORMANCES:

Wednesday October 19, 2016

• 8:00pm – http://peter-manning-robinson-refractor-piano-moca.eventbrite.com

• 10:00pm – http://peter-manning-robinson-10pm-moca-show.eventbrite.com

WHERE –

MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art)

250 Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90012

Composer-pianist Peter Manning Robinson unveils The Refractor Piano™ in its debut concert at Bergamot Station on April 28, 2016, in Santa Monica, California. Photo credit: Michael Rueter/Capture Imaging.

About the Artists:

Peter Manning Robinson, Pianist-Composer –

Peter Manning Robinson is a composer, pianist, and vegan chef who has won an Emmy and multiple BMI awards. He was born in Chicago and grew up in Vancouver, Canada as well as on the streets of San Francisco. Then, at age 16, he ventured to Los Angeles. Robinson started touring and playing in clubs at a young age and received formal music training from USC and Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He has performed and recorded with such jazz greats as Ernie Watts, Phil Woods, and Freddie Hubbard. Robinson has also composed for film and television. He first met creative collaborator Klaus Hoch when he composed the music for Flypaper, which Hoch wrote and directed. Additional credits include Without A Trace and The Crow. Robinson won an Emmy Award for KABC’s Above and Below and five BMI TV Music Awards for Without a Trace. He was also nominated for an OFTA Television Award for The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. Members of The London Philharmonic, MusicaNova Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra have recorded his orchestral works.

In recent years, performing on his newly created Refractor Piano™, Robinson is pioneering a new style of music called “refracted music.” Without prerecorded tracks, triggered samples, external sounds, or MIDI instruments, he creates innovative music that combines classical and jazz composition with improvisation and acoustic refraction for transcendent live musical experiences.

Klaus Hoch, Director/Producer/Co-Developer –

Wearing many hats as creative director and producer, Klaus Hoch is a writer, filmmaker and musician who has collaborated with Peter Manning Robinson for the past six years to develop The Refractor Piano™. He and Robinson first collaborated on the feature Flypaper, which Hoch wrote and directed – a black comedy crime film featuring Craig Sheffer, Robert Loggia, Illeana Douglas, and Lucy Liu. Hoch studied music composition with pianist and composer Wally Cirillo as well as guitar with jazz legend Joe Diorio. He earned an MFA from NYU in Film and Television and is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

Hana Kim, Projection Designer –

Hana Kim is an award-winning set and projection designer for theater. Recent design credits include: projection for Fallujah, directed by Andreas Mitisek (Long Beach Opera); scenic and projection for Dogeaters, directed by Loretta Greco (The Magic Theatre, San Francisco); projection for museum installation of Pearls of the Planet (Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles); and Em-ee-leh (Baryshnikov Arts Center, NY). She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award in Theater Design and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. Her works were also featured in the architecture magazine Form as well as the book Scene Design and Stage Lighting by Dick Block.

“The MOCA event will definitely appeal to those seeking to experience the edge of new musical horizons via a new type of “refracted” music and Peter’s amazing, highly original, ‘improvised compositions,’” says Hoch.

Links –

• Peter Manning Robinson (PMR) – http://www.petermanningrobinson.com

• Facebook Event Page – https://www.facebook.com/events/1747895905464545

• RSVP for Concert Tickets:

– 8:00pm – http://peter-manning-robinson-refractor-piano-moca.eventbrite.com

– 10:00pm – http://peter-manning-robinson-10pm-moca-show.eventbrite.com

• PMR Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/PeterManningRobinson

PMR Twitter – https://twitter.com/PeterMRobinson

More links –

• PMR Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/peter-manning-robinson

• PMR Bandcamp – https://petermanningrobinson.bandcamp.com/releases

• PMR YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/ImageMusicPMR