Acclaimed American classical pianist Byron Janis has died at the age of 95. His wife, Maria Cooper Janis, said her husband died Thursday evening in New York City. Janis studied as a childhood prodigy under Vladimir Horowitz and emerged in the late 1940s as one of the most celebrated virtuosos of a new generation of American concert pianists. He went on to serve as a Cold War cultural ambassador, performing in the then-Soviet Union. Later he was an Arthritis Foundation spokeperson, having suffered from that condition for more than half his life. Janis also composed scores for TV shows and musicals and his wife says he was still creating music until his final days.
