Ken Medema

Composer

1943 –

91

Who is Ken Medema?

Ken Medema is a composer–singer–songwriter who has been performing in the United States, Canada, and Europe for more than thirty years. Some of his best known songs began as live improvisations.

Ken Medema was born almost blind; his eyes let him tell light from shadow and look at outlines of major objects. He began playing the piano when he was five years old, and three years later began taking lessons in classical music through braille music, playing by ear and improvising in different styles.

In 1969, he majored in music therapy at Michigan State University in Lansing, studying both piano and voice. Afterwards he worked as a music therapist in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and later at Essex County Hospital in New Jersey.

In 1973, he began performing and recording his own songs while at Essex County Hospital. "I had a bunch of teenagers who were really hurting," he says, "and I started writing songs about their lives. Then I thought, ‘Why don’t you start writing songs about your Christian life?’ So I started doing that, and people really responded."

We need you!

Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!

Born
Dec 7, 1943
Grand Rapids
Nationality
  • United States of America
Education
  • Michigan State University
Lived in
  • Grand Rapids

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Ken Medema." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/ken_medema>.

Discuss this Ken Medema biography with the community:

0 Comments

    Browse Biographies.net