[6] According to a 2013 interview, Robinson studied composition and piano performance at the Boston Conservatory of Music with composers John Adams and Larry Thomas Bell, as well as film scoring with John Williams at the Berklee School of Music;[1] but chose not to graduate with a degree.
[13] Robinson conducted the world premiere performance of his Black Nativity – In Concert: A Gospel Celebration in 2001 at the Immanuel Baptist Church.
[14] The concert version recreated the original performance of Langston Hughes's Gospel Song-Play Black Nativity[15] that opened in 1961 at the 41st Street Theatre in New York City.
In 2004, the documentary film Black Nativity – In Concert: A Gospel Celebration was made about the world premiere performance, production, and creation under the direction of Robinson with the original cast.
[16] In December 2013, Robinson collaborated with Dr. Anthony Antolini and the Bowdoin College Chorus and Down East Singers to mount a revised version of his 2004 creation.
[2] Robinson composed An American Requiem, which had its New England Premiere under the direction of Dr. Robert Russell and the USM Chorale.
[25] In May 2017, Robinson premiered two choral works in Studzinski Hall at Bowdoin College: "Requiem For a New World" and "This Will Be Our Reply To Violence" with words by Leonard Bernstein.
Robinson received acclaim for his compositions from Maine's Senators Angus King and Susan Collins, who remarked: "With the scourge of violence unabated in our times, we all must increase our devotion to the highest ideals of humanity.