Byron Janis

Even beyond his place among the giants of his generation of pianists, Byron Janis played a crucial role well beyond the performing world. He was involved in national and international politics, playing a major role in global relationships with the Soviet Union and Cuba. In 1960, Janis was chosen as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador to the Soviet Union. A 1962 performance with Kirill Kondrashin leading the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra was the first album recorded in Moscow by an American recording company. He was renowned for his Chopin interpretations, including the performance of manuscripts that he discovered in 1967 and 1973. In 1985, he was named National Ambassador to the Arts for the Arthritis Foundation. In 2010, Janis and his wife wrote the autobiography Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal. He died on March 14, 2024, at age 95.