Over his long and celebrated career, pianist Byron Janis has experienced triumphs and challenges unknowable to most of us. He’s overcome injury and illness to maintain a storied career, performed in Soviet Russia in the midst of frenzied anti-American sentiment. He’s even spoken out about brushes with the paranormal.
In January, Variety reported that Paramount was developing a biopic on Janis’ life with Martin Scorsese, based on the pianist’s autobiography, ‘
Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal. But who is this piano maestro? In a phone conversation on March 24, Janis’ 88th birthday, he reflected on a life likely unfamiliar in its particulars to many Americans today, but one that powerfully captures the resilience that springs from an open mind and a willingness to embrace imperfection and impossibility.

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