Peter J. Yanowitch

Epicurean. Martial Artist. Laywer. Father. Of the many roles and titles of Peter Yanowitch, Composer is the most encompassing. Peter’s music embraces all the elements of his life, past, present, and future. His songs are stories of family, history, love, and mischief.
For the past several years, Peter has been working with pianist Landon Knoblock and saxophonist Steve Pardo to realize his compositions. “Harmoniam” is the latest culmination of those efforts. Featuring acclaimed New York trumpet player Ron Horton, “Harmoniam” represents a musical journey that explores the relationship between fine arts and martial arts; external beauty and the inner self; creative expression and personal fulfillment.
Historians suggest that some ancient masters of the Japanese martial arts expanded their vision of the martial “arts” beyond the traditional arts of war. These enlightened masters came to appreciate that a cultivation of the fine arts could heighten one’s sense of personal fulfillment by balancing what they viewed as the exterior pattern of beauty and the inner self.
Moreover, the masters realized that the principles of sword training could be adapted to the study of the fine arts to achieve a sense of harmony. Whether seeking accomplishment in the arts of war or the arts of peace, their faithful practice of their sword training enabled them to master the challense of seemingly incongrouse endeavors, for the pursuit of a harmony in their lives-a harmony which reveals the heart of the creative process itself.
I have profoundly enjoyed both my martial arts training and my musical journey. I too have found a sense of harmony from studying these two contrasting “arts”. This has led me to imagine that harmony inherent in the creative process is similar to the “elements” which I studided long ago in my basic chemistry class in high school. I have named this basic element of creativity “Harmoniam”. I see it as a common link in the process of creative expression and personal fulfillment which the ancient Japanese martial “arts” masters had celebrated and espoused to their students centuries ago.
-Peter J. Yanowitch, 2008
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