Renowned concert pianist overcame severe arthritis
NEW YORK — Byron Janis, a renowned American concert pianist and composer who broke barriers as a Cold War era culture ambassador and later overcame severe arthritis that nearly robbed him of his playing abilities, has died. He was 95.
Mr. Janis passed away March 14 at a hospital in New York City, according to his wife, Maria Cooper Janis. In a statement, she described her husband as “an exceptional human being who took his talents to their highest pinnacle.”
A childhood prodigy who studied under Vladimir Horowitz, Mr. Janis emerged in the late 1940s as one of the most celebrated virtuosos of a new generation of talented American pianists.
In 1960, he was selected as the first musician to tour the then-Soviet Union as part of a cultural exchange program organized by the U.S. State Department. His recitals of Chopin and Mozart awed Russian audiences and were described by the New York Times as helping to break “the musical iron curtain.”
Seven years later, while visiting a friend in France, Mr. Janis discovered a pair of long-lost Chopin scores in a trunk of old clothing. He performed the waltzes frequently over the ensuing years, eventually releasing a widely hailed compilation featuring those performances.
At age 45, he was diagnosed with a severe form of psoriatic arthritis in his hands and wrists. Mr. Janis kept the condition secret for over a decade, often playing through excruciating pain.
He revealed his diagnosis publicly in 1985 following a performance at the Reagan White House, where he was announced as a spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation.