CARNO, Zita

Zita Carno, born Zita Carnovsky, was an American pianist and composer. She was born in New York City on 15 April 1935 and studied at the Manhattan School of Music, where she completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano. Her teachers included Vittorio Giannini, Charles Mills and Wallingford Riegger.
Carno was particularly associated with contemporary classical music and jazz. In 1979 she joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a keyboard player and remained with the orchestra for twenty-five years. She also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the Martha Graham Dance Company and numerous contemporary-music ensembles.
Her best-documented composition is Sextet for Percussion, written in 1960 and published in 1970. The work combines pitched and unpitched percussion instruments and reflects both her classical training and her interest in jazz. Carno died in Tampa, Florida, on 7 December 2023.