By Raylee Foster | Staff Writer

Andraé Crouch’s universal music has earned him a three-day Pruit Memorial Symposium March 15 through March 18 which aims to pay tribute to his legacy through academic conferences and concerts. The event will take place in a variety of locations including Moody Memorial Library, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Jones Concert Hall and Second Missionary Baptist Church.

Andraé Crouch is known as the “father of gospel music.” At an early age, the artist was exposed to gospel music at the church his parents founded, and was able to experience various cultures of music because of weak racial division in California during the mid-1900s. Throughout his career, Crouch earned six Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, an induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, eight Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Kathy Hillman, a member of the Pruit Memorial Symposium committee, said Crouch’s legacy is one anyone can take part in appreciating. His influence in the music community extended beyond race and belief and played a role in mainstream music today.

“I think anybody would have wonderful takeaways because it also transcends race and ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds because it’s music, and it relates to all of us,” Hillman said. “So I would encourage anybody, particularly those who aren’t familiar with Andraé Crouch, to come enjoy the concerts.”

The tribute will have a variety of components, including academic conferences and concerts. While some aspects require registration, Hillman said it is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

“Registration is only required for the daytime events, for the academics of the conference, which does include the luncheons,” Hillman said. “The two evening concerts, even though it’s all open to the public, do not require registration, just come and enjoy.”

Hillman also said the tribute to Crouch was heavily influenced by Baylor professor and committee member for the Pruit Memorial Symposium Robert Darden, who is publishing a book on the influence of Crouch’s music in July.

What started as a plea editorial in the New York Times for Darden, grew into the Black Gospel Music Preservation Project at Baylor. As Darden approached his final year as a professor, he said his request to pay tribute to one of the most influential Black gospel music artists is coming true.

“If there’s a Mount Rushmore of Black gospel music, he’s on it. He was that influential. Every praise and worship song you’ve heard since, every contemporary gospel artist all goes through him,” Darden said. “Like the middle of an hourglass, you’ve got to go through Andraé to get to where we are now.”

Crouch’s intention in gospel music was always universality, Darden said, and his first album was “Take the Message Everywhere.”

Darden also said Crouch’s influence was largely impacted by where he grew up, having been born in the 1940s while California was still developing opening more opportunities for Black people and fewer racial divides. Because of this, Crouch and his family were able to experience other cultures in ways unfamiliar to Black gospel artists in big cities like Chicago.

“He grew up in a multi-ethnic neighborhood hearing music from all cultures and music styles, which as great as the traditional Black gospel music artists were they were hearing what they were hearing — they would go play at Black churches that would only hear the same — but Andraé’s church, the Church of God and Christ, allowed music from all kinds of things,” Darden said.

Darden also said the academic aspects of the conference will include people from all walks in the music industry whose paths crossed over that of Crouch. In the conferences, he said he hopes people who attend will be able to “just talk” and hear the stories of the speakers and have great appreciation for the music.

“This will be one of the biggest concerts in Baylor history. Certainly one of the greatest numbers of grammy winners and million selling people in one place that Baylor has ever hosted,” Darden said. “I hope, certainly from the concerts, [people] leave with a sense of joy, and that they have had a ball. That they are probably tired from dancing, they they’re hoarse from shouting and singing, that they’re caught up in the Holy Spirit in such a way that happens all too rarely.”