Gospel Piano Legend Andrae Crouch In Dedication Recital April 26

Valley Baptist Church In San Francisco Inaugurates New Hand-Made Sauter Grand Piano

Gospel pianist and eight-time Grammy Award winner Andraé Crouch, who has for four decades broadened the popularity of the art form, will perform a dedication recital Saturday, April 26 from 3-4 p.m. at Valley Baptist Church, 301 Raymond Avenue, San Francisco.

The recital by Mr. Crouch will dedicate a new grand piano hand made in Germany by Sauter Piano purchased for Valley Baptist Church by an anonymous donor. Ulrich Sauter, seventh generation owner of Sauter Piano will be on hand from Spaeichingen, Germany, to sign the piano at the dedication.

Composer and pianist Andraé Crouch is credited with revolutionizing the sound of contemporary Gospel music and was one of the first African American Gospel artists to crossover to mainstream. For four decades, he has blazed new ground in gospel music, pushing it far into the realm of pop and single-handedly developing new audiences and influencing a generation of artists with his sophisticated compositional style, dedication to the art form and charismatic stage personality. His more than 20 recordings attest to his popularity and success, as do his multiple producer credits with mega artists including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Elton John and Diana Ross, among others. His film credits include The Color Purple, The Lion King and Free Willy and he has been the voice of Dr. Seuss' Yurtle the Turtle on national television. He has garnered top awards including eight Grammy Awards, four GMA Doves, as well as ASCAP, Billboard and NAACP Awards, an Oscar nomination, and in 2004 became the only living gospel artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and only the third gospel artist to be so honored in history. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998 and currently serves as Pastor of the New Christ Memorial Church of God in Pacoima, CA, having inherited his late father's congregation alongside his twin sister, Sandra, in 1994.

Reverend Carl Stuart, Pastor of Valley Baptist Church is honored to have Andraé Crouch dedicate the new Sauter grand piano. “He is the father of modern Gospel Music, and is legendary in both the sacred and secular musical worlds,” he says. And about the hand-crafted piano: “Only one word could begin to describe the beauty, excellence, and workmanship of the Sauter piano—‘stunning!'  From the inlayed burled walnut, the polished ebony with gleaming brass castors, to the alacrity of the action, and its unique airy voicing, to hear it, to play it, is to be smitten by it!

Centuries Of Old-World Craftsmanship And Modern Technology
The Sauter family has built pianos by hand since 1819 in Germany's Black Forest, a region known historically for the finest woodworking and precision clock-making in Europe and for exacting Schlage locks. The Sauter workshops are still located deep in the heart of the Black Forest, where Germany, France and Switzerland meet and the waters of Lake Constance flows down to the valley floor and form the Danube River. In modern times, the area is also known for high tech engineering--particularly precision surgical tools--sought after the world over by doctors and hospitals. Today's Sauter Piano workshops combine the best of both old world craftsmanship, top materials and design with technical innovation, making their instruments the choice of top artists and musical organizations internationally. Because if its commitment to high standards, hand-craftsmanship and the finest materials, Sauter limits its production to a small number of instruments each year and there are waiting lists for the large concert grands from the four corners of the globe.

Unique features of Sauter pianos are hand-selected and slow kiln-dried hardwoods throughout, individually sand-cast metal frames to support the ideal tension of strings, and a titanium duplex on the back side of the bridge of each instrument that, coupled with Sauter's patented soundboard design, gives Sauters an acclaimed brilliant, rich tone with lots of color and an extremely long sustainability of sound.

R. Kassman Piano, exclusive Bay Area Sauter dealer, has a long tradition of excellence in Northern California. Now located in Berkeley, for decades, Kassman's San Francisco showroom, behind the Opera House in San Francisco's performing arts district, was the centerpiece of the City's keyboard enthusiasts. Since 1979, R. Kassman Piano was the largest Kawai dealer west of the Mississippi and Mr. Kassman was the national wholesale and service representative for C. Bechstein, the venerable piano manufacturer from Berlin, Germany. The company served as the exclusive provider of instruments to the San Francisco Opera, appointed in 1981 as its official purveyor of pianos by Opera director Kurt Herbert Adler. The company has also supplied instruments to the San Francisco Ballet and other leading performing arts groups, including donating all pianos at the Jon Sims Center. R. Kassman Piano's reputation for excellence, top-quality service and community involvement has not been matched.

In its new location, R. Kassman in Berkeley specializes in European, hand crafted instruments from the finest, renowned manufacturers, among them Blüthner, Sauter, Steingraeber, Haessler, Irmler, Schiller, Brietmann and C.Bechstein. The company also sells pristine used pianos manufactured by Kawai, Steinway, and Yamaha, and has a vast inventory of quality used and rebuilt instruments.

For more information on R. Kassman Piano, 843 Gilman Street in Berkeley please call 510-558-0765 or visit the website at www.rkassman.com.

For information about Andraé Crouch's free recital dedicating the new Sauter piano, contact the Pastor at Valley Baptist Church (415) 850-8739.