Musician, Conductor. A Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist, he will be remembered as the maestro of the acclaimed orchestra "The Philly Pops." Born Bernard Nierow, into a Jewish family, his interest in music was sparked during his early youth and at the age of seven, he began taking piano lessons. He performed at local events during his early teenage years while attending New York's High School of Music and Art and earned a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School of Music. He initially was inspired by classical music and won a radio contest of which included famed pianist Vladimir Horowitz as one of the judges. While attending Brooklyn College, he gravitated to jazz music and made a name for himself on the New York Night Club circuit and later Las Vegas. During this period, he changed his name to Peter Nero. His commercial break happened after he signed on with the RCA label and during the 1960s, he recorded several albums and earned a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1961. In 1962, he received a Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist for the album "The Colorful Peter Nero." In addition, Nero had further exposure with the aid of TV as he performed on the programs "The Tonight Show starring Jack Paar," "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" and "The Perry Como Program" and had an appearance in the motion picture "Sunday in New York" (1963). After moving on to Columbia Records, he scored a million dollar-selling record with his instrumental version of the sound track from the 1971 film "Summer of '42." For thirty-years (beginning in 1979) Nero served as conductor and music director of the "Philly Pops Orchestra" and for several decades, he toured and performed at venues in Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, in addition to Las Vegas. He also served as a conductor for Frank Sinatra during his performances at Radio City Music Hall.