Day: July 9, 2023

Peter Nero, the pianist known for his syntheses of classical, jazz and American popular song, has died at 89.

A New Yorker who began piano lessons at 7 and studied for a time at the Juilliard School, Nero (born Bernard Nierow) was a budding classical pianist when he developed a keen interest in jazz in the 1950s. He launched a recording career playing combinations of the two styles – what would later be called “crossover” – and became a star in the 1960s.

Nero composed the soundtrack of the 1963 film “Sunday in New York,” and was the pianist of Michel Legrand’s score for “The Summer of ’42.” In 1971, he introduced “Anne Frank,” a setting of selections from “The Diary of a Young Girl” by the Dutch teenager who would become one of the most widely known victims of the Holocaust of European Jewry.

In later life, Nero was the music director of the Philly Pops (1979-2013), known for playing piano with one hand and conducting the orchestra with the other. He continued performing on concert tours into his 80s.

An obituary by The New York Times’ Robert D. McFadden: