Last Saturday, April 5th, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Amica had our
spring meeting at Chris Finger Pianos in Niwot, Colorado.  We were
treated to a really great program by Chris Finger and Barth Story, who
have restored an 1895 Steinway model A grand piano and installed the
new Wayne Stahnke LX Live Performance player system.  You can see the
system at this website: http://www.live-performance.com/steinway.html

The restoration of the piano is stunning, to say the least.  The term
restoration doesn't do it justice.  Yes, it's still a Steinway, but way
beyond any restored instrument you may have seen before.  A whole new
keyboard is the icing on the cake.  See it at the Finger Pianos web-
site:  http://www.fingerpianos.com/newsite/index.shtml.

As Amicans, we were there with a keen ear to see and hear the com-
parison with our beloved Ampico and Duo-Art pianos.  You should have
heard the oooh's and ahhh's!  The performance was breathtaking to say
the very least.  Some of our old standby rolls were more than faith-
fully reproduced along with a variety of other music.  Several said
that it was better than any other reproducing piano they had ever
heard.  Amica members are a tough crowd for the new modern electronic
reproducing players, but this one is the real deal.

There were twenty-five of us there, with members from England, Missou-
ri, Kansas, and Wyoming, besides Colorado, and we were all convinced of
its capability.  With music from antique rolls and more modern record-
ings and well-known classical pieces and a cello and piano duet, we
heard some very fine renditions and were swept off our feet!  If you
haven't heard this system, you owe yourself the pleasure of doing so
now.  It's beyond belief.

Jere DeBacker
Denver, Colorado