Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
instructor, primarily at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
,
Sarah Lawrence College, and the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
.
Life
Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in
Medicine Lodge, Kansas
Medicine Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,781.
History
19th century
The particular medicine lodge, mystery house or sacred tabernacle from ...
to parents who were musicians and teachers.
[Kozinn, Allan. "Dorothy DeLay, Teacher of Many of the World's Leading Violinists, Dies at 84." ''The New York Times.'' March 26, 2002.] She began studying violin at age 4. At age 14, she graduated from
Neodesha High School, where her father was superintendent. DeLay studied for one year at the
Oberlin Conservatory
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...
with Raymond Cerf, a student of
César Thomson
César Thomson (18 March 1857 – 21 August 1931) was a Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer.
Biography
He was born in Liège in 1857. At age seven, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and studied under Désiré Heynberg, Rodo ...
, and transferred to broaden her education at
Michigan State University, where she earned a B.A. in 1937 at age 20. She then entered the Juilliard Graduate School, where she studied with
Louis Persinger, Hans Letz, and
Felix Salmond
Felix Adrian Norman Salmond (19 November 188820 February 1952) was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in the UK and the US.
Early life and career
Salmond was born to a family of professional musicians. His father Norman S ...
.
She was the founder of the Stuyvesant Trio (1939–42) with her cellist sister Nellis DeLay and pianist Helen Brainard, and she played with
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...
's All-American Youth Orchestra.
While touring with this orchestra in 1940, she met
Edward Newhouse, a novelist and writer for The New Yorker, and they married four months later in 1941. They had a son, Jeffrey Newhouse and a daughter Alison Newhouse Dinsmore.
In addition to many honorary degrees, Miss DeLay received the
National Medal of Arts in 1994, the
National Music Council
The National Music Council of the United States is an organization listed under Title 36 of the United States Code, founded in 1940 and chartered by the 84th Congress in 1956. The Council is composed of organizations of national scope interested ...
's
American Eagle Award in 1995, the
Sanford Medal from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1997 and the
Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Japanese Government in 1998.
In 1975, she was recognized by the
American String Teachers Association
The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all are ...
(ASTA) with their Artist Teacher Award.
Dorothy DeLay died from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in New York City at the age of 84. She was survived by her husband, Edward Newhouse, two children, and four grandchildren.
Teaching
By the mid-1940s, DeLay decided that she did not want to continue as a performer.
In 1946, she returned to Juilliard to study with
Ivan Galamian,
becoming his assistant in 1948.
In addition to teaching at Juilliard, she taught at
Sarah Lawrence College (1947–1987), the
University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a performing and media arts college of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. Initially established as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1867, CCM is one of the ...
(30 years until 2001
), the
New England Conservatory, the
Meadowmount School of Music and the
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado.
It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...
, among others.
Her former students include many noted violinists of the late 20th century. She assisted
Galamian with
Itzhak Perlman. She also taught
Anne Akiko Meyers
Anne Akiko Meyers (born May 15, 1970) is an American concert violinist. Meyers was the top-selling classical instrumentalist of 2014 on Billboard's traditional classical charts.
Early life and education
The daughter of an artist and a colleg ...
,
Albert Stern,
Midori Goto
, who performs under the mononym Midori, is a Japanese-born American violinist. She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11 as a surprise guest soloist at the New Year's Eve Gala in 1982. In 1986 her performance at the Tanglewood ...
,
Akiko Suwanai
is a Japanese classical violinist.
At the age of 18, she became the youngest winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990. In addition, she was awarded second prize in the Paganini Competition in 1988 and Queen Elisabeth Competi ...
,
Sarah Chang,
Philippe Quint,
Kurt Sassmannshaus
Kurt Sassmannshaus is a German violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music and Great Wall International Music Academy.
Life and career
Born in Würzburg, Germany, he is the son of violin ...
,
Gong Qian Yang,
Cho-Liang Lin
Cho-Liang Lin (Lin Cho-liang, , born January 29, 1960), born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is an American violinist who is renowned for his appearances as a soloist with major orchestras. Musical America named him its "Instrumentalist of the Year" in 20 ...
,
Chin Kim,
Christian Altenburger,
Jaap van Zweden
Jaap van Zweden (; born 12 December 1960) is a Dutch conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and of the New York Philharmonic, and music director-designate of the Seoul Philharmonic.
...
,
Mark Peskanov,
Ida Levin,
Ray Iwazumi,
Shunsuke Sato,
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (born January 10, 1961) is an Italian and American classical violinist and teacher.
Early life and education
Salerno-Sonnenberg was born in Rome, Italy. Her father left when she was three months old. She emigrated with ...
,
Angèle Dubeau, Pierre Ménard,
Dmitri Berlinsky,
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist.
His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres.
Early life and background
Kenn ...
,
Alyssa Park,
Yoon Kwon, Misha Keylin,
Shlomo Mintz
Shlomo Mintz (Hebrew: שלמה מינץ) (born 30 October 1957) is an Israeli violin virtuoso, violinist and conductor. He regularly appears with orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music conc ...
,
Gil Shaham
Gil Shaham (Hebrew: גיל שחם; born February 19, 1971) is an American violinist of Israeli Jewish descent.
Biography
Gil Shaham was born in Urbana, Illinois, while his Israeli parents were on an academic fellowship at the University of Illino ...
,
Dezso and
Tibor Vaghy,
Fudeko Takahashi, Ayako Yonetani, William Fitzpatrick, Vilhelmas Čepinskis, Brian Lewis, and
Li Chuan Yun, Brian Dembow, among others. She also taught many significant orchestral musicians and pedagogues, such as
Simon Fischer, author of ''Basics'';
Paul Kantor, pedagogue at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...
;
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
Concertmaster
Robert Chen;
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florentine ...
concertmaster
Frank Almond;
Met Orchestra concertmaster
David Chan; violinist and pedagogue
Anton Miller; Philadelphia Orchestra Concertmaster
David Kim;
Liu Yang, and
Lü Siqing, first Asian violinist to win 1st Prize at the Paganini Competition in Italy, Masao Kawasaki, Hyo Kang, Naoko Tanaka, among others.
In a 1992 interview,
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (born January 10, 1961) is an Italian and American classical violinist and teacher.
Early life and education
Salerno-Sonnenberg was born in Rome, Italy. Her father left when she was three months old. She emigrated with ...
said: "I think the greatest thing about Dorothy DeLay is that she has the ability to look at a young student or an old student and pretty much size up their character and the way that they think — their personality, basically — and how in a short period of time what's the best door to use to get them into here. And that's her method — the fact that there is really no method."
[Kozinn, ''The New York Times.'']
Itzhak Perlman said of DeLay's pedagogic approach: "I would come and play for her, and if something was not quite right, it wasn't like she was going to kill me. She would ask questions about what you thought of particular phrases—where the top of the phrase was, and so on. We would have a very friendly, interesting discussion about 'Why do you think it should sound like this?' and 'What do you think of that?' I was not quite used to this way of approaching things."
DeLay's students have gone forward to solo careers, principal orchestra positions with the world's leading orchestras, and have gone on to win many of the major violin competitions of the world.
In 2003,
Itzhak Perlman was appointed to his teacher's position at Juilliard, the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair of Violin Studies. The position was established in 1997 with a leadership grant from the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation to The Campaign for Juilliard and was held by DeLay until the time of her death in March 2002.
References
* Sand, Barbara Lourie. ''Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician.'' New York, Amadeus Press, 2000.
--link to publisher's web page
For an in-depth profile of Miss DeLay, see Helen Epstein's book ''Music Talks'', now on Kindle. This is also available as a separate article on Kindle.
{{DEFAULTSORT:DeLay, Dorothy
1917 births
2002 deaths
People from Medicine Lodge, Kansas
American classical violinists
20th-century American educators
Aspen Music Festival and School faculty
Cleveland Institute of Music faculty
University of Cincinnati faculty
Juilliard School alumni
Juilliard School faculty
Sarah Lawrence College faculty
Michigan State University alumni
Violin pedagogues
Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
New England Conservatory faculty
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
20th-century classical violinists
Women classical violinists
20th-century women musicians
Women music educators
20th-century American women educators
20th-century American violinists