Improv Music Artist to Give Benefit Concerts

Christian musician/recording artist Ken Medema
Christian musician/recording artist Ken Medema

Well-known Christian musician/recording artist Ken Medema will give a benefit concert 7 p.m. Friday, Mar. 5, at Park View Mennonite Church, N. College Ave., Harrisonburg.

The concert is a benefit fundraiser for Bridge of Hope, a local interdenominational ministry to homeless women and children and at-risk single mothers. Admission is by donation. An offering will be taken.

Medema will also perform in university chapel 10 a.m. Friday, Mar. 5, in Lehman Auditorium, where an offering will also be collected for the Bridge of Hope ministry.

Though blind from birth, Medema has has demonstrated his extraordinary musical vision in every imaginable venue, custom-designing his program for each occasion. Using his gift of improvisation, Medema hears with his heart stories from people or themes from events or speeches, then sings the stories back to his audience.

In 1985, Medema launched Brier Patch Music, a small independent recording, publishing and performance-booking company named after Brer Rabbit’s home in the legendary Uncle Remus stories.

“Brer Rabbit lived in a place not comfortable for anyone else,” Medema says, “and we have decided to follow him there.”

His albums include “Fork in the Road,” “Kingdom in the Streets,” “SonShiny Day,” “Through the Eyes of Love,” Sunday Afternoon” and a recent Christmas release, “Watching the Sky.”

When not on the road, Medema enjoys spending time at home in San Francisco with his wife Jane, reading books, watching movies (yes, Ken is an avid movie goer) and delighting in their grandchildren, Charlotte and Henry.

The event is cosponsored by Park View Mennonite Church and EMU campus ministries. For more information, call 540 432-4115 or 540 434-1604.