Kraus, Milton, 1866-1942

Milton Max Kraus, pianist, was born on January 13, 1906 to Morris and Jennie Kraus of the Lower East Side, NYC. He trained with Tibor Serly, a disciple of Béla Bartok, and with Joseph Schillinger, in composition. He attended City College of New York briefly before transferring to Juilliard (at that time called Institute of Musical Art) on scholarship for Piano. He earned a degree in Education at Teachers College in New York; a degree which he used briefly (taught for ½ day) at James Monroe High School in New York before deciding he could earn more money as a professional pianist. He worked as a staff pianist at CBS, NBC and ABC. He worked with Jerome Kern on Very Warm May, Kate Smith as her pianist when she introduced God Bless America, and with Ed Sullivan.

Milton Kraus died on December 28, 1995 in Boca Raton, Florida.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (b New Orleans, 8 May 1829; d Tijuca, Brazil, 18 Dec 1869), was a highly successful pianist and composer who studied with Berlioz in Paris. His "considerable reputation as a composer of virtuoso piano pieced did not long survive his death, but a renewed interest in his life and works began in the 1930s and he is now generally acknowledged as on e of the most significant 19th century American musicians, and his music as a direct precursor of ragtime" (Grove Music Online).

From the guide to the Milton M. Kraus papers on Louis Moreau Gottschalk, 1956-1980, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)