Life and Music of Elder S.K. Ampiah: An Unknown Nonagenarian Composer

ABSTRACT: Elder S.K. Ampiah, a nonagenarian Ghanaian composer has been composing over the past four decades. Surprisingly, his songs have been popular among the Ghanaian Christian fraternity over the years. However, it appears that some of his songs are presently being credited to others, while some are also being treated as traditional Pentecostal popular-gospel songs with an anonymous composer. This paper attempts to document the life and music of Elder S.K. Ampiah for posterity and also as a contribution to gospel music in Ghana. Data for this paper was collected through interview and documentary research. The paper consequently reveals that Elder S.K. Ampiah regarded his musicality as a ministry, which he willingly and freely composed for people. Also, because he was uninformed about copyright issues, some musicians, unfortunately, took advantage of his songs and recorded them without acknowledging him. Thus, making him unpopular and unknown among the Ghanaian Christian fraternity and the public in general. The paper recommends that the life and music of composers similar to Elder S.K. Ampiah should be documented for posterity.