Charles DeLaney ’47

Charles DeLaney ‘47, an internationally renowned flute teacher and Florida State University music professor emeritus, died July 8, 2006. He taught at FSU from 1976 until his retirement in 2000. Before that, he spent twenty-five years as a flute professor at the University of Illinois. He was also a composer and performer who spent many years as the principal flutist of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. He helped found the Florida Flute Society and served as president of the National Flute Society, which honored him in 1998 with its Lifetime Achievement Award. He earned degrees from Davidson, Colorado University, and the Conservatory of Lausanne (Switzerland). He spent sixteen summers as flutist and conductor at the Brevard (N.C.) Music Center. He published several flute compositions and composed two film scores. He recorded albums of contest flute pieces that were used by students nationwide to prepare for competitions. As a young musician, he sneaked into a closed rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, where he wound up comparing notes with another young intruder, future conductor Leonard Bernstein. He was friends with Boston Symphony Orchestra flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer, the first woman appointed to a major symphony orchestra. A member of the Army Signal Corps, he landed in Europe the day World War II ended—because, as he learned later, he’d been repeatedly moved to the end of the transfer lists by his former music teacher, who worked as an Army clerk. Survivors include his wife, Sue Delaney, 914 Ivanhoe Road, Tallahassee, Fla. 32312; two sons and a daughter.