He would live a year of disease, poverty and hunger until his eventual draft into the Russian Red Army. Bonia became an officer and fought against the Nazis. His amazing tale of escape and army life was documented in a diary he wrote after WWII. After the war, Bonia was a part of the Allied Forces Occupation of Poland and Germany. Bonia returned to his Zionist activities with Nocham, an organization that prepared people to immigrate to Israel. Being so involved in the Zionist process, he organized a performing group of singers in which he played accordion, playing Israeli and Yiddish songs. Emissaries from Israel would come to encourage people to go to Israel. They brought new songs with them, thus inspiring Bonia with Israeli Culture.

During 1947-49, there were more than 200,000 Jews in displaced persons camps in Germany. Bonia and his group performed at these camps and encouraged people to go to Israel. In 1949, Bonia himself finally boarded a small freight plane to Israel, the Promised Land.

In 1949, the kibbutz was commissioned by the Israel National Radio to create a Holocaust memorial broadcast about the uprising in Warsaw in 1944. Bonia organized a choir and composed a special piece, which was performed on the Israel National Radio. Bonia went to Tel Aviv to meet Nissim Nissimov, the head of the music committee of the labor organization (Histadrut). Nissimov recommended that Bonia study with Paul Ben Chaim, the leading composer of Israel at the time. Paul Ben Chaim knew that Bonia was untrained as a composer, but accepted him because of his musical instincts and melodic power. Bonia studied with him in Tel Aviv once a week for five hours a day for five years, making the half-day commute from the kibbutz.

In 1951, Bonia won first prize in the Nissimov Competition for young composers. In the same year he was commissioned to write a piece commemorating the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Kibbutz Kvutzat Shiller. The music consisted of a choral work and a dance suite choreographed by Noah Rom. He worked every day on this piece for six weeks, sleeping only two hours a night. This piece marked Bonia’s new style and sound, influenced almost predominantly by Israeli music and culture. Figuratively, this was the beginning of the Bonia’s recognizable independent style. In 1952, there was a conference of the Israeli Composers in Tel Aviv. The two trends of the time were either assimilating with the common trend of modernism or to preserve the uniqueness of the Mediterranean Israeli style and expand it, as represented by Paul Ben Chaim.

In 1953, there was a big event commemorating the anniversary of the youth movement of the labor organization Nachal, which took place in Bonia’s kibbutz. He wrote a large-scale piece for choir and symphonic orchestra. The orchestra was brought to Kibbutz Neitzer Sereni from Jerusalem for three days. More than 10,000 people from neighboring cities and kibbutzim attended the event. In his personal life, Bonia met his first wife Nitza Neiman, an American musician living in Israel. Bonia and Nitza had two children, Adda and Ophir.

At Temple De Hirsch Sinai, the previous music director who had been there for 35 years left a legacy that was difficult to fill. Bonia, during the first year of this position, kept the traditional music as it was. Later, during the first High Holidays, he noticed that the music was antiquated and full of discrepancies between the text and the music. This inspired Bonia to compose his own High Holiday music and re-arrange some handpicked traditional selections that he thought fit. This marked the beginning of Bonia’s long career in liturgical music. Bonia began composing new pieces that interpreted the text of the prayer book in a new, fresh, and original way. Later, his music would spread all over the world and become the norm. He composed the Emmy Award-winning “Revolt in Mode’in (Hanukah Suite)”, which was performed and filmed in Seattle and broadcast on network television.

In addition to Bonia’s liturgical music career, he has composed orchestral music performed by the Minneapolis Chamber Symphony and the Cincinnati Chamber Symphony. His choral works have been performed and recorded by The Sarasota Choral Symphony Chorus, The Nova Singers of Florida and The Oshkosh Chamber Singers. Bonia’s music has been performed all around the world and many of his pieces have become standards in the liturgical repertoire. Bonia’s collaboration with his wife Fanchon Shur can be heard in many of her choreographies and performances. In addition, their collaboration has resulted in a musical/choreographic version of the Passover Hagaddah, various chants, and performance pieces for events. They invented a system of improvisation that can be taught using symbols. They have created performance/dance works that have included the audience as a participant, as well. Bonia and Fanchon have contributed much to the artistic and Jewish community in Cincinnati and beyond. Their long relationship of marriage and creativity stands as a testament to a very strong bond of love and inspiration.

On August 30th, 2012 Bonia transcended the confines of the physical body. He was ascending the steps of his office clutching the latest printing of his master work THE HALLEL PSALMS when an angel kissed him. He fell backwards and passed instantly. He always wanted to be living strong and doing his work until he could no more, and he did. He is remembered by all who know his music and his gregarious, loving, magnanimous and unique personality. This site will keep his fire alive long into the future where all who want to experience his music can.