Byron Janis and Maria Cooper Janis: "Chopin and Beyond"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-05-26/byron-janis-and-maria-cooper-janis-chopin-and-beyond
Byron Janis at Thoiry Trunk
Courtesy Wiley
At age four, Byron Janis was recognized as a musical prodigy. He studied with Vladimir Horowitz and made his Carnegie Hall debut as a concert pianist at twenty. He was the first American artist sent to the Soviet Union as part of a cultural exchange. He went on to become an international superstar in the classical music world, despite a childhood injury left him unable to bend his pinky finger. A severe case of arthritis did not stop his career. Today, as a spokesman for the Arthritis Foundationm, he conducts “mind over matter” workshops for children with juvenile arthritis. Byron Janis comes to the studio with his wife, Maria Cooper Janis, to discuss his extraordinary experiences in music and life.
Guests
Byron Janis
concert pianist and national spokesman for the Arthritis Foundation.
Maria Cooper Janis
artist, filmmaker and author of "Gary Cooper Off Camera:
Related Items
Listen to Excerpts of Janis's Performances
Chopin Waltz in E Flat
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3
Read an Excerpt
From "Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal" by Byron Janis. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Excerpted by kind permission of Wiley:
Comments
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Silly stories in nicely organized fish wrap.
Hello. As a child I was diagnosed with arthritis. I am now 49. Over the past year, I unexpectedly lost the arthritis in my hands after going on the anti-inflammatory diet described in the book Healing Psoriasis by O.A.Pagano. Byron, have you had success using diet to treat your arthritis, too?
You have got to be kidding? Ms. Rehm's inability or unwillingness to make even a passing defense of reason and evidence is an insult to her listeners. The paranormal is a topic best covered in the hidden back pages of small town rag, not NPR.
Thirty surgeries and hardware in both feet/ankles, amongst other sites will never still my passion for music. I had undiagnosed JRA in childhhood which has left me with disability and chronic pain. In spite of minimal use of one shoulder & the opposite thumb awaiting surgery, at 56 I've taken up playing the drums, a lifelong desire. I commend both Byron & Maria for never letting the challenges prevail and sharing their inspiring story. My advice to the blind caller who has picked up his wind instrument again: A day at a time, as each will be different, and not always what you hoped for! In 10 years without sight, your remaining senses are more keen, discover their power and utilize them. Never forget your gift is still within you, it's simply "re-routing". Smiles & positive outlook are my choice, believe me, others do notice. Even though my foot will never power my base drum well, playing my drums is a beautiful & fun escape, washing away any limitations! Finally....never, ever give up!
The very best in life to each of you! Thank you.
I enjoyed the comments and insights about music, as Mr. Janis is an accomplished master in the field. I used to play (badly) the Chopin waltz that he unearthed, and could clearly hear the differences in the brief clip.
I can't go along with his paranormal interests, but I'm beyond the point where I try to disabuse people of their strongly held beliefs. But I do want to say that as one having a deep interest in magic and having studied it for many decades, I can detect a "wrong note" when I hear one. Magicians roll their eyes when they hear testimonials about the reality of Uri Geller's "powers," as his powers come from the readily available repertoire of magic. For those in the know he does not create wonder, but rather embarrasment and shame that he feeds on the adulation of the innocent (including scientists, who, by the way, are notoriously easy to fool with magic tricks). Of course the true believers take this reaction as one of jealousy, which makes magicians furious, the fury then being yet another proof that Geller's got the goods.
The world is full of wonder, and I don't suggest that Mr. Janis give up his interest in the mysterious or his quest for understanding. I would ask him to consider what kind of person knowingly deceives the gullible, and whether that person is worthy of respect, or could be called a friend.
Thank you for asking your guests about Uri Geller. Sadly their answer was full of incorrect information. (The downfall of this radio show format is the absence of live fact checking and fact-based follow-up questions.)
A thorough explanation of Geller's trickery is here:
http://www.skepdic.com/geller.html
It is sad that such obviously charming and intelligent people should be taken in by this stuff. It is reminiscent of Arthur Conan Doyle's invincible belief in fairies and spiritualism.
The saddest part was how Mr. Janis stated in a derisive tone that James Randi, one of Geller's most effective debunkers, was "a magician". Yes, yes he is. That's the whole point. To a rationalist, Geller is also a magician, and it takes a magician, not a scientist, to uncover the tricks of a magician.
"White hat" magicians since Houdini have considered it a professional obligation to debunk spiritualists and other "psychics" who fleece the innocent by preying on their naivete or, even worse, on their despair over the loss of a loved one.
Finally I'll point out that the brilliant Michael Crichton, trained as a physician, once penned a similarly provocative memoir called "Travels" in which he described many psychic phenomena that he claims to have witnessed during the heyday of the New Age movement, including spoon bending.
If you want to bend spoons yourself, completely without psychic energy, see here:
http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/06/how-to-bend-a-spoon-with-just-your-mind/
@ jeffrilu37 I disagree. It needs to be covered in the popular media, but with a rationalist approach rather than a "teach the controversy" approach.
I am surprised that the debunking of Uri Geller by James Randi was not stressed. Usually you don't let people get away with such stuff. A simple Google search of "Geller" would have revealed that his paranormal performances are more than likely plain trickery.
I would never advocate a "teach the controversy" approach, because there is no controversy in this case. The earth is not flat, it is not 6,000 years old, there are no fairies, no angels, no miracles, and no mechanism to account for Yuri Geller's claims - just the physical universe. My complaint is with Ms. Rehm's soft, feel-good relativism; she had a perfect opportunity - duty, in my view - to take a stand in defense of reason, but instead opted for an easy and patronizing play-time with her guest's absurd mental baubles.
Right. I agree. I disagreed with your statement that the paranormal should not be covered in the MSM at all.
If we're requesting favors of the MSM I'd rather have them cover it rationally and frequently than not cover it at all.
I think Diane has one of the best shows on radio, and my opinion has not changed. I do, however, think that handling issues of paranormal with kid gloves is pretty disappointing. I just kept waiting for rationality and reason to make an appearance. I assume restraint was show in the interest of politeness, but a program of your respectable stature has some responsibility to pursue rational discourse.
All I read about Byron Janis is passionnating. And I discover his life and achievements a few hours ago. I had a theory about the genesis of the Picasso Painting of El Guernica. I believe his inspiration is the American Movie "Farewell to Arms". You can look at it at the web: (it is in spanish, we will have a translation soon) http://www.imago.org/index.php?new=490 . My query is if it is possible to obtain the e-mail adress of Mary Cooper Janis to contact her.
I am a Cinematographer from Spain ( I work normally with Pedro Almodovar ), and in a certain way I think I had a "clairvoyance" (as Byron Janis can have said ) about the Guernica and Farewell to Arms.
Thanking you in advance. This is not a properly comment, but I don´t know how to contact Mary Cooper Janis. And excuse also my rudimentary english