This week, Ira spoke with Grammy Award-winning pianist and conductor Peter Nero.
Peter Nero, with the UNLV Jazz Symphony Orchestra, will be performing in the Gershwin Project, Saturday, November 2nd at 8 p.m. at UNLV’s Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall. The concert is part of the Charles Vanda Master Series. The program includes “Someone to Watch Over Me” and excerpts from “Porgy and Bess.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Nero’s recording career, which has produced 67 recordings. In 1960 he signed to a three-year contract with RCA Victor records, which was then renewed for another five years, producing more than 26 LPs, including Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Piano Concerto in F” with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. The following year, he was honored with his first Grammy Award, as “Best New Artist of the Year.”
In January 2013, Nero was awarded a certificate by the President of the Philadelphia City Council honoring his outstanding lifetime musical achievements, and recognizing his innumerable contributions to arts and culture in Philadelphia as an award-winning pianist and the founding conductor and artistic director of the world renowned Peter Nero and the Philly POPS orchestra.
