Steve Sensenig began playing the piano at the age of 3, with the encouragement and help of his mother and older sisters. Through his early years, Steve learned quite a bit from the music books that were available to him, and he quickly began to excel in classical music.
By the time Steve reached high school, he was setting his sights on a career as a classical concert pianist. At the age of 13, he began playing regularly for the school choirs, church services, etc. Throughout high school, Steve gathered numerous awards and recognitions for his playing, and immediately after graduating from high school, Steve released a recording of his own arrangements of hymns. That initial recording (released only on cassette) quickly sold over 1,000 copies in local churches and bookstores.
Steve with Nicole C. Mullen, on the set of TBN's "Praise the Lord" (December, 2003)
Steve attended Philadelphia Biblical University, where he graduated with a B.Mus in classical piano performance as well as a B.S. in Bible. It was during his college years, however, that the dream of being a concert pianist began to wane, and a desire for ministry set in. Steve recorded another collection of hymn arrangements, and often ministered in concert in different churches with his instrumental worship.
Steve has served on the staff of several churches, both in music and pastoral roles, and in recent years, has begun to expand once again on his musical abilities. His keyboard talents have also been featured regularly on the Awakening, a live praise and worship tv program broadcast all around the world. As part of the Awakening Band, Steve has appeared on TBN’s “Praise the Lord” program and Daystar Network’s “Celebration” program. In addition, Steve often is requested to add his keyboard style to recording projects in a wide variety of genres including Christian Contemporary, praise and worship, country, jazz, and southern gospel.
With the release of his first solo CD in October, 2003, “To Worship You” (later re-released as “Ivory Worship”), Steve accomplished a long-awaited dream of recording worshipful and intimate arrangements of contemporary praise and worship songs. In August, 2004, this CD was followed by the release of “‘Tis So Sweet”, on which Steve applied the same intimate style of playing to many classic hymns.
Steve (back left) with Phillips, Craig, and Dean and the rest of the band and vocalists just prior to recording PCD's live DVD in Virginia Beach (July, 2005)
In 2005, “Christmas Solitude” was released. This CD featured Steve’s intimate styling of well-known Christmas hymns and carols, focusing intentionally on the deep spiritual meaning behind Christmas. In addition to Steve’s piano and keyboard arrangements, his wife Christy wrote and sang a lullaby entitled “Mary’s Song (I’ll Never Be the Same)”.
Five years passed before Steve was finally able to produce a new CD. In November 2010, Steve released “Peaceful Journey”, a mixture of hymns and contemporary worship songs with a subtle nature soundtrack throughout the CD.
The next month, Steve traveled to Orlando, FL where he recorded a custom project for Christ for all Nations, the evangelistic ministry of Reinhard Bonnke and Daniel Kolenda. This unique recording project, entitled “Healing in the Glory”, featured Steve’s piano playing with Scripture readings by Bonnke and Kolenda throughout the recording. CfaN was so pleased with Steve’s work on this project that they released it as a 2-disc set with the second disc containing just the music Steve had recorded without the narration over top of it.
During his varied career, Steve has had the opportunity to play with many well-known Christian music groups and artists, including:
- Tammy Trent
- Phillips, Craig, and Dean
- Bryan Duncan
- Nicole C. Mullen
- CeCe Winans
- David and Nicole Binion
- The Martins
- Darlene Zschech
- Hillsongs Worship Band
- Ronnie Freeman
- Russ Taff
- Dan Dean
- Josh Lopez
- Randy Phillips
- The Awakening Band
- John Ragsdale
- Larry Gatlin
- Landy Maughon and Everest
- Miss America 2003, Erika Harold
- Brandon McSwain
- …and many others
Currently, Steve and his wife live in Abingdon, VA with their son and daughter. Steve is the Resident Musical Director at Barter Theatre in Abingdon. Steve served for several years on the faculty of the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University as an Adjunct Instructor. His responsibilities there involved accompanying and coaching vocal students as part of their course of study. In addition to his work at Barter Theatre, he currently accompanies students at Emory & Henry College and assists with their musical theatre studies.