For more information, please contact
Bettina L. Klinger
Tel: 917-930-8654
Email: bettinalklinger1@gmail.com

Byron Janis, World Renowned Pianist, Conducts Mind Over Matter Sessions at Juvenile Arthritis Conference in Washington, D.C. July 8-10, 2011

Washington, D.C. July 8-10, 2011-This year’s Juvenile Arthritis Conference featured internationally acclaimed pianist, cultural ambassador, composer and inspiring music legend, Byron Janis where he led “Mind Over Matter” sessions on Saturday, July 8th, for children, tweens and teens diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. The sessions are for children whether or not they play the piano. He shared techniques he has learned during the almost 40 years he has been playing with psoriatic arthritis of the hands and wrists. The techniques make it easier for the children to manage their particular disabilities. He also imbued them with his indomitable spirit and philosophy that “with the right mindset, anything is possible”.

He was recognized for his work on Sunday at the Juvenile Arthritis Awards of Excellence where he spoke about how honored he was to work with such courageous children and how is he already looking forward to next year’s conference in Indianapolis.He played several pieces for the parents to a standing ovation.

Regarded as a child prodigy at 4, Byron Janis has performed all over the world and is the only pianist to have been asked to perform at the White House for four sitting presidents on six occasions. In 1960, he was chosen as the first American artist to be sent to the Soviet Union to open the Cultural Exchange between the USSR and the United States. At the White House in 1985 Nancy Reagan announced that Mr. Janis had been secretly suffering from arthritis of the hands and wrists for 12 years. He has been a national spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation ever since and an inspiration to millions.

Mr. Janis donates 25% of the proceeds from his memoir, Chopin and Beyond – My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal and his PBS DVD Documentary, “The Byron Janis Story,” to the Arthritis Foundation. Additionally, he is busy composing for Broadway and writing for the Wall Street Journal.

Recently, he has had the great honor of being written into the Congressional Record of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, honoring him as musician, diplomat and inspiration.

The Juvenile Arthritis Conference is the Arthritis Foundation’s signature, nationwide event for families affected by Juvenile Arthritis. The three-day educational event focuses on health, wellness and fun for children affected by arthritis, lupus, myositis, ankylosing spondylitis and other rheumatic diseases.

For information please visit www.byronjanis.com

For additional information or to schedule interviews, please contact Bettina Klinger, President, Klingervision, Inc. 212-592-1385 or bklinger@klingervision.com.

For press information and to schedule interviews, limited public appearances and engagements, please contactBettina Klinger, 917-930-8654 or email bettinalklinger1@gmail.com.

Byronjanis.com - https://www.facebook.com/ByronJanis/

https://twitter.com/@ByronJanisMusic

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For more information, please contact
Bettina L. Klinger
Tel: 917-930-8654
Email: bettinalklinger1@gmail.com

Legendary pianist in town with Arthritis Foundation

Release Date: November 10, 2011

Acclaimed pianist Byron Janis is the guest of the Arthritis Foundation tonight in an event starting at 6 p.m. at the Seasons, 7300 Dearwester Drive in Montgomery. The renowned pianist, who appeared many times as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will tell the story of reclaiming his piano mastery after a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis at the height of his career. The evening will include a brief video of his story, an interview with Janis and his wife, Maria Cooper Janis, followed by a few selections performed by Janis at the piano.

The event is $25 per person. (shaas@arthritis.org or call 513-271-4545)

The first pianist to study with Vladimir Horowitz, Janis made his orchestral debut with Toscaninis NBC Symphony at age 15. He began his career as a concert pianist in 1944. In 1960, the United States Department of State chose him to open the first cultural exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time, The New York Times reported that if music could replace international politics, Byron Janis could consider himself an ambassador breaking down cold war barriers.

In 1978, he created a program on the life of Frederic Chopin, which aired twice, nationally on PBS stations in the United States and in countries around the world.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan honored Janis at a State Dinner at the White House marking the 40^th anniversary of his Carnegie Hall debut. Janis has had the great honor of being written into the Congressional Record of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, honoring him as a musician, a diplomat and an inspiration. He has written an autobiography, Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal.

A companion DVD entitled The Byron Janis Story, also chronicles his life and is currently airing across the United States on PBS.

For more than 38 years Mr. Janis has suffered with psoriatic arthritis; at the onset of the disease for 12 years he did not reveal he had it. Together, he and his wife Maria Cooper Janis, the daughter of late great actor Gary Cooper, continued on a journey that despite often being in severe pain, allowed him to play with only sporadic absences from the world stage.

The artist is donating 25 percent of proceeds from his book, DVD and recordings to the Arthritis Foundation.

For press information and to schedule interviews, limited public appearances and engagements, please contactBettina Klinger, 917-930-8654 or email bettinalklinger1@gmail.com.

Byronjanis.com - https://www.facebook.com/ByronJanis/

https://twitter.com/@ByronJanisMusic

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