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Dorothy DeLay

Dorothy DeLayDorothy DeLay was born March 31, 1917, in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. DeLay began playing the violin at a very young age, and gave her first recital when she was five.

DeLay attended the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio at age 16, and transferred to Michigan State University a year later. During college much of her focus was on the violin, and after graduation DeLay attended the Juilliard School. DeLay became a member of the All-American Youth Orchestra, and traveled across the United States and Latin America for concerts.

In 1940 DeLay met Edward Newhouse and in 1941 they married. By 1946 DeLay decided to quit performing and returned to Juilliard for more classes, where she studied under Ivan Galamian and decided to give teaching a try. DeLay taught at Juilliard, Sarah Lawrence College, Aspen, the University of Cincinnati, the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, the New England Conservatory, and the Royal College of Music in London. Many of her students went on to become internationally known violinists, and she was the first woman to be regarded as a master violin teacher.

DeLay received the National Medal of Arts in 1994, the National Music Council’s American Eagle Award in 1995, and the Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Japanese Government in 1998. DeLay died March 24, 2002, in Upper Nyack, New York.

Entry: DeLay, Dorothy

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: June 2012

Date Modified: August 2020

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.