Renowned pianist Byron Janis, a protégé of Vladimir Horowitz, and chosen by the US in 1960 for performances in the Soviet Union, has passed away.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Janis passed away last week at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He was 95 years old.
His wife, Maria Cooper Janis, daughter of the two-time Oscar-winning actor Gary Cooper, announced his passing.
In a statement, she said, “I have been blessed with the privilege for 58 years of loving and being loved by not only one of the greatest artists of the 20th century but by an exceptional human being who took his talents to their highest pinnacle.”
Throughout his 85-year career, Janis interpreted works from composers ranging from Bach to David W. Guion and showcased major piano concertos by Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Prokofiev. He was featured in two volumes of the 1999 Mercury Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century and recorded for Philips, EMI, Sony, and Universal.
In the Cold War era, Janis achieved a historic milestone as the inaugural American artist selected to partake in the 1960 Cultural Exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Subsequently, he became the first American concert pianist invited back to Cuba, four decades after his initial performance there.
Janis graced the White House stage six times during performances for four sitting presidents. His accolades included the Commander of the French Legion d’Honneur for Arts and Letters, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Stanford Fellowship from Yale, and the gold medal from the French Society for the Encouragement of Progress. Remarkably, he was the first musician to receive this honor since its establishment in 1906.
In 1973, Janis began suffering from painful psoriatic arthritis in both hands, a condition he kept private until 1985. It was during a White House performance, after which Nancy Reagan publicly disclosed his condition, appointing him as spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation. Janis subsequently underwent multiple surgeries to address the issue.
Remembering her husband, Maria further wrote, “In spite of adverse physical challenges throughout his career, he overcame them, and it did not diminish his artistry. Music is Byron’s soul, not a ticket to stardom, and his passion for and love of creating music informed every day of his life of 95 years.”
“The music world, if it knows how to listen, will be constantly enriched and educated by the music created by Byron Janis, my best friend, companion, LOVE — what gratitude I have lived with every day and shall continue to do so all the rest of my days,” she concluded.