Byron Janis Case Study

 Byron Janis is internationally renowned as one of the world's greatest American classical pianists. He made his orchestral debut at age 15 with Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra and the following year was chosen by Vladimir Horowitz as his first student. At 18, he became the youngest artist ever signed to a contract by RCA Victor Records. Two years later, in 1948, he made his Carnegie Hall debut which was hailed as an unparalleled success.

Our Scope of Work

The perfect storm occurred when his documentary and book were to be released in the Fall of 2010. In August we received a call from a family friend that the Janis’ were in crisis and could we take a meeting.  A scheduled one hour meeting was 4 hours on a Monday evening just to get all the stories, straight  the contacts, introductions and be ready the next morning as we literally had 4 days. we cleared the decks and Byron Janis came first, this was a moment in time that would lead us to shining a light on an American Treasure and Icon who broke more barriers in Civil Rights, the Cold War Era and had played for five sitting presidents.  The galleys were out for the book Chopin & Beyond, but no Publishers Weekly review was in progress, no press and book signings were organized. For the documentary, The Byron Janis Story for which WQED/PBS Pittsburgh was the presenting station and for which we had to refeed and pitch through the American Public Television System (APT) in order for all PBS stations to pick it up nationwide and (back then all PBS stations were their own fiefdom). Maestro Janis had no viral footprint, was not concertizing regularly, and his catalog was not in circulation for sales or download. In addition no one really knew that Byron Janis was a composer and working on several adaptations of music outside the classical genre for plays, movies and some pieces (if properly marketed) could attract high profile performing artists. So what did we do in the five days we had to do it, we hired a colleague from the New York Times, who worked in the Department that managed The Book Review. She knew the landscape for getting books reviewed and the entire team called every PBS station in the nation to pick up the documentary and we arranged to have an ending slide about the book launch. We found a colleague  who ran the southeast region of PBS, who today in 2022 is now the President of PBS nationwide. With some help from our colleagues and elbow grease, the documentary had a 98% carriage rate and the book has gone to a second printing in paperback. Besides going through storage bins and unearthing press, programs and treasures that had not been posted, spoken about, highlighted or been sold for years, we built an e-commerce system, a viral footprint, designed, produced, and released five new CDs and special vinyl pressing.  We negotiated and executed historic master classes, appearances, book signings and produced seven award ceremonies, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at Lincoln Center.

The Engagement Includes:

  • On-going archiving massive music catalog, press, and extraordinary life

  • Establishing and curating social media accounts as well as selling and distributing his limited edition, autographed CDs, compilation books and DVDs.

  • Our efforts have created a verifiable new fan base in addition to his very loyal fans.

  • Created and continue to update a compendium of Byron Janis’ accomplishments and his life for National Medal of Freedom consideration

  • Conceptualized, produced and edited seven videos covering the following:

    • His Historic Role in The Cultural Exchange with USSR in 1960 at the request President Kennedy

    • His performances in Cuba and close escape, when Castro came into power. In the late 90’s he was asked to return by the U.S. State Department to return Cuba with noted journalists Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams.

    • The Music Behind the Legend, directed by the award winning Mary Wharton

    • The First Remote Live Master Class with the Moscow Conservatory

    • The Recent Releases of the Widely Hailed Live from Leningrad, 1960 and never before heard live recordings on Byron Janis, Live on Tour, Volume 1, created a sensation amongst music lovers.

    • A You Tube Series of his Lifetime achievement award at Lincoln Center

  • Execute licensing initiatives for his own compositions

  • Organize, pitch, post & execute Satellite media tours, radio interviews, newspaper interviews, podcasts Domestically and Internationally

  • Organized throwing out the first pitch in his hometown of Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Pirates

  • Executed the press and red-carpet for New York Philharmonic Gala

  • Responsible for chronicling his life and capturing the essence of the man for opportunities in potential alliances in theater, movies and popular music performers

  • Book launch and promotions for  Byron Janis, Chopin and Beyond

  • Documentary launch and promotions  The Byron Janis Story

  • Conceptualizing, pitching and working with all labels on reissues and compilation box sets

  • Negotiated with NAXOS, the largest distributor of classical music for a 4 CD deal to distribute all of Byron Janis’ recent releases

  • In negotiations with PBS to create a box set with The Byron Janis Story and Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, A Voyage with Byron Janis for their annual pledge drive.

  • Launched an on-going relationship with Yamaha Artist Services with Master Classes, Appearances & Tributes

  • Planned & Executed all work with The Arthritis Foundation as Maestro was the first Cultural Ambassador to work with Juvenile Arthritis victims through the healing power of music

  • Worked with Yamaha & The Cleveland Clinic and on programs with the military at Walter Reade, the  Voices of Valor, The Very Special Arts and American for the Arts