Robert Bonham spent most of his youth in India where he studied music at the international Woodstock School in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. Studying with Jon Nelson and Angelica Morales von Sauer, music degrees were earned from Phillips University and Kansas University. He has studied the Taubman approach with Sheila Paige since 1990. His Ph.D., in Comparative Arts, is from Ohio University.

He teaches in the Fine Arts Division of Maryville College, a liberal arts college located in Maryville, Tennessee, where he received the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1993. In recent years he has helped lead trips to India, Nepal, Tibet and Bali for students and friends of Maryville College. He also presents workshops for piano teachers focusing on avoiding injury, pain, or restriction and optimizing fluent and efficient motion. Performances include solo recitals, chamber music, collaboration with singers, strings, and brass, and concertos.