Robina Ritchie-Barker has taken the long way home.
Born to world-class violinists, Robina spent her formative years against the backdrop of New York City’s Metropolitan Opera. When her parents went their separate ways, Robina funneled her grief and pain into hours at her piano, channeling Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Elton John and Supertramp, and crafting youthful angst-driven melodramatic rock ballads.
She then promptly spent most of her life doing anything BUT pursuing her passion for music.
She played many roles in her adult life - professional actor, multimedia producer, instructional designer, business owner, even an authentic Disney princess – but it was another type of role entirely that changed Robina’s life and her path. It was through the gift of becoming a stepmother and moving into her new family’s home that Robina found her way back to her musical heart. When her husband would take his kids out for one-on-one time, Robina was forced to face her feelings of loneliness and otherness. So, taking the cue from her younger self, she cleaned out an unused room, dusted off her old Roland keyboard, rediscovered her songs on a floppy disc and remade herself.
Five years later, Robina now composes and produces music from her studio on the shores of Vancouver Island. Whether creating moving piano solos, ambient or downtempo electronic tracks, or rich, neoclassical pieces, Robina weaves acoustic with electronic, familiar with exotic, traditional with modern to create evocative and emotional tracks that build soundtracks… both cinematic and personal.
Robina is currently celebrating the release of her debut EP, Initiation.
