BYRON JANIS: CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC

courtesy of the Arthritis Foundation

There is no denying that psoriatic arthritis changed Byron Janis’s life. In addition to the pain and the skin involvement that comes with this type of arthritis, joint deterioration meant Janis had to have surgery that shortened his thumb on his left hand, leaving him unable to reach the next octave on the piano easily. The pain and depression resulting from arthritis left him suicidal. He stopped working for two and a half years.

Fifteen years after he announced he would no longer play in public, Byron Janis, at age 71, has rebuilt his life. He spoke to the Arthritis Foundation about how arthritis has changed and enhanced his life, and what he learned about himself in the process.

AF: When did you know that you wanted to be a concert pianist?
BJ: When I was five years old.
AF: How did you cope with your diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis?
BJ: I took an aggressive stand in exploring ways of dealing with the pain. I used acupuncture first and then went to anti-inflammatory drugs and some cortisone.
AF: How do you cope with your arthritis now?
BJ: I take methotrexate weekly. I constantly move the affected areas. The piano is wonderful for this. Occasionally, I get cortisone injections in painful areas if needed.
AF: How did you manage to redirect your life after you quit playing?
BJ: The realization that I could write songs and music gave me a new creative outlet. The challenge of trying to be a good teacher is increasingly important to me.
AF: What made you begin to play again?
BJ: Armed with the success of the music I was writing, I [learned] to [compensate] for my shortened hand span.
AF: What is the worst thing about having arthritis?
BJ: For me, as a pianist, it was having it in both hands and wrists – the parts needed for playing. Also, the pain involved, the loss of joints and the fear of it spreading.
AF: How has having arthritis changed your mental, in addition to your physical, being?
BJ: Aside from the depression that can come with arthritis in general, the disease’s impact on my entire life has been powerful. Limited motion in my wrists, limited extension of the hand and fingers, and general pain and stiffness all has given me a tremendous challenge, and I meet that each day both physically and mentally.
AF: What is your favorite piece of music to play?
BJ: Whatever I’m playing at the moment.
AF: Who or what is your inspiration?
BJ: Love.
AF: What is the greatest moment in your life?
BJ: Finding unknown manuscripts of two Chopin waltzes in a Chateau in France. I recently recorded them.
AF: If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would it be?
BJ: I would have started writing music at an earlier age.
AF: Is there anything good about having arthritis? If so, what is it?
BJ: It forces you to seek new outlets for [your] energy and creativity. In fact, it may even force you to have new life goals. It opens the way to other accomplishments that never would have happened otherwise. In any case, writing music, notably “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” music for Broadway, [is the best thing to come out of my experience with arthritis].

Now that Janis is playing again, it seems he is busier than ever. Last year he released a new CD entitled True Romantics and performed at Carnegie Hall to honor the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death. This, by the way, was 50 years after his debut concert at Carnegie Hall when he was just 20.

In November, he will serve as a judge in the Vendome Prize for Piano at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. In addition he is the artistic advisor for the Tocoma International Music Festival in Tacoma, Washington, which will open in August 2001. He is also working on his autobiography.

Currently, Janis spends most of his time preparing for the opening of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” which will premier in Havana, Cuba, in early 2001.