The songs on this album were almost entirely composed in the moment during the recording session. It was my intent to just allow the musical tones and energy of the Universe to flow through to create an album that will “speak” to the listeners in whatever way is needed.
Bob Yonker creates solo piano music with the intent of calming the mind, soothing the soul, and healing the planet one note at a time.
Growing up in the northeast, Yonker’s earliest musical memory is of his mother singing and playing the piano in his childhood home. He can remember his curiosity while watching her play and was always fascinated by the sounds created by the piano and how it worked.
At the age of 4, he started playing simple songs all by himself. At 6 he started lessons, but after a year, his teacher realized that Bob was playing by ear and not reading the notes. Bob had had his sister play the song for him and he would then learn it by listening, and was “found out” after playing his piece for a recital in the wrong key. He later did learn how to read, but has always been more comfortable playing his own style and his own compositions best.
Being told by colleges that his style of music was not what they were looking for without classical training, Bob decided to change career paths and received a degree in agricultural science from Penn state, and worked many years helping the environment, while working second jobs in group homes for the mentally challenged, which he enjoyed immensely, as well as being the organist for his hometown church.
In the 90’s, while still working full-time, Bob went back to school and received a triple degree in Special Education, Elementary Education, and Early Childhood Education, which allowed him to switch career paths once again to become a special needs teacher.
Now “re-passioned” from his teaching career, Bob has returned to his first love – music – and has composed 7 albums of contemplative, contemporary, and meditative solo piano music as well as one Christmas album. His 8th, and latest, album, The Seeker, is comprised of songs improvised on the spot at the recording studio with the intent to bring calm and joy and maybe even emotional healing to the listener. Many pieces were inspired by Bob’s new life in Europe with his wife Karen. Bob has performed for local fans in the town where he lives and has begun working cooperatively with a local therapist in sound healing and breath sessions playing intuitively for those participating.
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