Joe Negri, the masterful jazz guitarist, educator, and beloved Handyman Negri from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, has died at his home in Scott Township, Pennsylvania, at the age of 99. He passed away on May 30, 2026, just 11 days shy of his 100th birthday.
For generations of children, Negri was a familiar, gentle presence in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, appearing as Handyman Negri and as himself, the owner of Negri’s Music Shop, whenever Fred Rogers welcomed musical guests. He joined the program in 1968 and stayed until Rogers stopped producing new episodes in 2000. But to the jazz world, Negri was something more: one of Pittsburgh’s finest guitarists and a towering figure in music education.
Born in Pittsburgh in 1926, Negri was a prodigy who began performing on radio at the age of three, playing ukulele and singing. He joined the local musicians’ union as a boy and toured nationally in the 1940s with Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra before serving two years in the U.S. Army. Returning home, he became a fixture of Pittsburgh’s music scene, often working with pianist Johnny Costa on KDKA television and later serving more than 20 years as music director at WTAE, where he first met Fred Rogers.
His influence as a teacher was immense. Negri taught jazz guitar for 49 years at the University of Pittsburgh, where the instrument was first offered as a discipline in higher education, and for 46 years at Duquesne University, where he helped establish the jazz guitar program, as well as at Carnegie Mellon. Among his many students was Ralph Patt, the inventor of major-thirds tuning.
Negri kept recording and performing late into his life, releasing albums including ‘Uptown Elegance’ with Buddy DeFranco and 2010’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ with Michael Feinstein, with whom he performed at the Newport Jazz Festival. He donated his archives to the University of Pittsburgh in 1999, preserving a lifetime of scores, recordings, and memorabilia.
A triple threat as musician, educator, and actor, Joe Negri leaves behind a legacy felt in concert halls, classrooms, and the childhood memories of millions.
