Joseph Villa


Joseph Emil Villa was an American pianist.
He was born in Garfield, New Jersey. He studied at the Juilliard School under Sascha Gorodnitzki and made his recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1972. Many of his public appearances were as an accompanist for artists like soprano Jessye Norman and violinist Eugene Fodor, and his high reputation rests on a small number of recordings, one of which was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1978. Joseph specialized in the Romantic repertory.
Villa died on April 13, 1995, aged 46, at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Greenwich Village. The cause was AIDS, said Steven Gray, his companion.