Charles DeLaney has been Professor of Flute at Florida State University in Tallahassee since 1976, and recently retired as Music Director of the Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestra. Before moving to Florida, Delaney taught at the University of Illinois (Urbana campus) for 25 years. A native of North Carolina, he holds degrees from Davidson College (B.S. in Psychology and Education), the Conservatory of Lausanne, Switzerland (Virtuosity in Flute), and The University of Colorado (M.M. in Flute and Composition). His major teachers were Lamar Stringfield, Rex Elton fair, Edmund Defrancesco, Alfred Fenboque, and Marcel Moyse.

DeLaney has appeared as a soloist and clinician throughout the United States, and is a familiar figure performing at NFA conventions. He is well-known for his recordings of contest music, made in conjunction with Selmer, and his “Fundamentals of Flute Playing” book, published by Lanier Press.

DeLaney’s career also encompasses the fields of conducting and composition. NFA conventioneers will recall seeing him onstage many times with a baton in hand (such as the 1997 convention performance of Kenneth Laufer’s “Flute for Thought,” or an instrument (such as when performing his own work, “Cousin Pinky,” 1996).

Charles DeLaney was president of the NFA from 1986 to 1987