Frances Veri and Michael Jamanis met as scholarship students of James Friskin at The Juilliard School where they received Bachelor and Masters Degrees. The couple later won the Walter Damrosch Memorial Scholarship to study at Fontainebleu with Robert and Gaby Casadesus. The following year, 1970, Veri & Jamanis made a highly successful New York debut at Alice Tully Hall and an orchestral debut with the Huston Symphony Orchestra. An auspicious recording career was launched by the duo with the historic first recorded performance of the original two-piano scores of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Variations on "I Got Rhythm," Second Rhapsody and Cuban Overture, released in a three-record set by the Book-of-the-Month Club. Highly esteemed for their television programs, Veri & Jamanis received special commendation from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for their hour-long special "Carnival of the Animals," broadcast nationally on PBS. They collaborated with Edward Jablonski, Gershwin scholar and biographer, for their second program, "Rhythm, Song, Blues...Gershwin" which was followed by "Purely Gershwin", hosted by actor William Hurt. Appearances in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Town hall included the entire piano repertory of George Gershwin, a rarely-performed and widely acclaimed all-Rachmaninoff program and numerous premieres, including John Corigliano's Gazebo Dances. The strong philosophy that energizes this husband and wife team stems from a love of music as well as a deep involvement with humanity. Toward this end, Frances Veri and Michael Jamanis established the Pennsylvania Academy of Music in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to educate and create a performance platform for the next generation. Waltzes, Op. 39 Published in 1867, the Waltzes, Opus 39, dedicated to Dr. Edward Hanslick, are Viennese in flavor. Although the thematic material shows much variety, the waltz rhythm- a kind of "waving"- is evident throughout the sixteen pieces. In a brief panoramic narrative, Hunecker describes each dance using phrases such as "joyously, entrancing lilt, a tiny gem, sacred, like a sigh - an unshed tear". Each phrase evokes a feeling that Brahms so effectively couples with a sense of movement. For the performers, these waltzes are pure magic that allow the performances of music and dance to come together in perfect unison. Hungarian Dances Perhaps it was serendipity that happened in 1852 when Johannes Brahms, then a young man of 19, was asked to accompany the flamboyant violinist Eduard Reményi on a concert tour in Germany. This was a tour that would introduce the young composer to Franz Liszt and Joseph Joachim.