Contemporary Christian music composer Kurt Kaiser was born in Chicago on December 17, 1934 but lived most of his life in Texas.
Kaiser played piano and organ at church and on live radio shows for 6 years (from the age of 12!) before entering the American Conservatory of Music and earning two degrees from Northwestern University. Shortly after graduating, he joined Word, Inc., a cutting-edge Christian publishing company founded in Waco, Texas. His position as Director of Artists and Repertoire gave him the position he needed to compose over 300 songs and arrange score of other inspirational songs and albums for some of the most popular Christian artists of the time–people like George Beverly Shea, Burl Ives, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ethel Waters, Ken Medema, and Joni Eareckson Tada. Kurt Kaiser poured his talents into Christian music, eventually becoming Vice President and Director of Music at Word, Inc.
Music was truly his life! Even in his free time Kaiser led choral workshops, gave concerts, served as president of the Waco Symphony Association, sat on the boards of the Christian Music Publishers Association and the Gospel Music Association, conducted the Baylor Religious Hour Choir at Baylor University in Waco for five years, and recorded 18 solo albums of his compositions for piano–one of which won a Dove Award.
For half a century, Kaiser had a huge influence on worship and church music, ushering in an entirely new era of contemporary Christian music that appealed broadly to Christians of all denominations. Many of his compositions gradually became so mainstream that they can now be found in church hymnals. He also helped to usher in a trend of Christian musicals that reached many younger people with the gospel message.
In 1999, Kaiser was invited by the U.S. Ambassador to travel to Sweden to perform at a special Christmas gathering of guests and dignitaries at the Museum of History in Stockholm. He was honored with many other awards as well–a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1992, induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001, an Honorary Doctorate in Sacred Music from Trinigy College, and an Honorary Dotorate in Humane Letters from Baylor University in Waco, which also presented him with their Pro Ecclesia award in 2017,
Kurt Kaiser passed away in November 2018 in Waco, Texas.
