Byron Janis

Byron Janis (born March 24, 1928) is an American classical pianist. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. His discography covers repertoire from Bach to David W. Guion and includes major piano concertos from Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Liszt to Prokofiev. Biography Janis is the youngest of two children of Hattie Horelick and Samuel Yankilevitch, who had shortened his surname to Yanks after emigrating to America. After demonstrating perfect pitch on a toy xylophone in kindergarten, Janis studied with Abraham Litow until he was 8 years old. Byron moved to New York with his mother and sister in 1936 to study with Josef and Rosina Lhévinne, and a year later, he began studying with their associate, Adele Marcus, who would remain his teacher for six years. Byron Yanks made his recital debut in 1937 at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, and a year later, his musical sponsor, Samuel Chotzinoff, persuaded him to change his name to Byron Jannes - he would later change the spelling to Janis. After attending one of Janis' concerts in Pittsburgh 1944, at which he played Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2, Vladimir Horowitz offered to take the fifteen-year-old on as his first pupil. Janis studied with Horowitz from 1944 until 1948. Horowitz had advised Janis to concertize to build self-confidence and stage presence, so he postponed his successful Carnegie Hall debut until 1948. Janis is also a composer. He has written music for musical theater, including the score for a 1993 Off-Broadway adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, for television shows, and in collaboration on several pieces with Cy Coleman