Kurt Henry Heinecke (born January 10, 1963) is an American composer, musician, songwriter, photographer, and voice actor. He was the music director at

Big Idea Entertainment Big Idea Entertainment, LLC (formerly known as Big Idea Productions, Inc. and Big Idea, Inc.; also simply as Big Idea) is an American Christian animation company, best known for its computer-animated ''VeggieTales'' series of Christian-themed h ...

, creators of the computer-animated

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, computer generated musical children's animation, and book franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series sees fruit and vegetable characters retelling ...

. He is the Assistant Artistic Director at Music City Strings.

Biography

Early life

Heinecke was born in Wisconsin on January 10, 1963, and raised in

Cullman, Alabama Cullman is the largest city and county seat of Cullman County, Alabama, United States. It is located along Interstate 65, about north of Birmingham and about south of Huntsville. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 14,775, with an ...

. He came from a musical family, his mother played the organ and was a member of the church choir. During his years at junior high he and his friends started a jazz band called Deathstar which later disbanded in high school. After graduation in 1982, Heinecke studied at the music lab at the

University of Montevallo The University of Montevallo is a public university in Montevallo, Alabama. Founded on October 12, 1896, the university is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. The University of ...

. He also went to study at Luther College where he got his B.A. in band and choral conducting.

Music career

After touring around the country and serving as a teacher in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

, Kurt finally settled down in

Lincoln Park, Chicago Lincoln Park is a designated community area on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Lying to the west of Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park, it is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Chicago. History In 1824, the United States ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

where he later became Director of Church Music at the Park Community Church. Serving as the choir director, he met Lisa who introduced him to her husband

Phil Vischer Phillip Roger Vischer (born June 16, 1966) is an American filmmaker, author, speaker, podcast host, animator, musician, puppeteer, and voice actor who created the computer-animated video series ''VeggieTales'' alongside Mike Nawrocki. He provide ...

and his friend

Mike Nawrocki Michael Lewis Nawrocki (born July 8, 1966) is an American director, animator, writer, lyricist, and voice actor best known as the co-creator of the long-running, Christian video series, ''VeggieTales'' where he voiced Larry the Cucumber. He voic ...

who would later co-found

. Heinecke joined Phil and Mike and provided music for their video series ''VeggieTales''. He also provided music for other Big Idea productions, such as '' 3-2-1 Penguins'', ''

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th cent ...

'' and ''

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything ''The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie'' is a 2008 American computer-animated family adventure comedy film directed by Mike Nawrocki, written by Phil Vischer, produced by Big Idea and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is t ...

''. He has received six Dove Awards for his production work with Big Idea. He is also a producer, arranger, and performer at Oak Valley Studios and is the composer of the ''Adam Raccoon'' video series. Heinecke is currently composing the music for the CGI remake of ''

Superbook , also known as , is a Christian anime television series from the early 1980s, initially produced at Tatsunoko Productions and TV Tokyo in Japan in conjunction with the Christian Broadcasting Network in the United States, and rebooted in 2 ...

''. He is the Assistant Artistic Director at Music City Strings. As of 2019, he has rejoined Big Idea as the music composer and producer for the new ''VeggieTales'' television series to be broadcast on TBN.

Photography career

Heinecke took an interest in photography during junior high. He currently owns a photography studio in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...

, his current residence. His photography includes concerts, events, weddings, and air shows.

References

External links

KH Studios

*

Living people People from Cullman, Alabama University of Montevallo alumni Luther College (Iowa) alumni American male composers 21st-century American composers American male voice actors American photographers 21st-century American male musicians 1963 births {{US-composer-20thC-stub