Dorothy DeLay. (Photo by Christian Steiner)

Dorothy DeLay, a member of the Juilliard violin faculty since 1948 whose students are among the most famous performers and teachers working around the world, died on March 24 at her home in Upper Nyack, N.Y., after a more than yearlong battle with cancer. She would have been 85 years old on March 31.

Miss DeLay, as she preferred to be called, has been described as the world's foremost teacher of the violin by publications as disparate as The New York Times, France's Le Monde de la Musique, and South Africa's Die Volksblad. She began her distinguished career as a teacher at The Juilliard School in 1948. More than just a teacher of the violin, she frequently also was a mentor, confidant, career advisor, concert fashion consultant, and even surrogate mother.

Among her students are many celebrated performers, including Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne Akiko Meyers, Nadja SalernoSonnenberg, Shlomo Mintz, Nigel Kennedy, Robert McDuffie, Sarah Chang, Mark Kaplan, Rachel Lee, Midori, Gil Shaham, and Kyoko Takezawa. Violinists of the Juilliard, Tokyo, Cleveland, American, Takács, Mendelssohn, Blair, Fine Arts, and Vermeer String Quartets studied with her, and she taught concertmasters of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw

DeLay receiving the NEA National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in a ceremony at the White House in October 1994. (Official White House Photo)

Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Chicago Symphony, and many other major orchestras around the world. At Juilliard alone, 14 current faculty members are former DeLay students, and numerous other former students teach at outstanding conservatories in the United States and abroad. Her students won first prizes in every major international competition, including the Tchaikowsky, the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Montreal, Paganini, Thibaud, Menuhin, Wienawski, Naumburg, Indianapolis, Queen Sofia of Spain, Chile International, Leventritt, Sarasate, Hanover, and Nielsen competitions, among many others.

Miss DeLay held master classes in Europe, Korea, Israel, Japan, the People's Republic of China, and South Africa. At The Juilliard School she occupied the Starling Chair, and her summers were spent teaching at the Aspen Music School. Among her many honors are the Artist Teacher Award of the American String Teachers Association, the King Solomon Award of the America-Israel Foundation, and honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Columbia University, Michigan State University, Duquesne University, Brown University, and the University of Colorado. She was a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in Great Britain. In 1994 she received the National Medal of Arts, presented by President Clinton at a White House ceremony. In 1995 she received the National Music Council's annual American Eagle Award, and in 1997 she received Yale University's highest award for Distinguished Contributions to Music, the Sanford Medal. "For her contributions to Japan's musical culture," Emperor Akihito bestowed on her the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

Gil Shaham with DeLay at Aspen in 1991. (Photo by Margaret Durrance)

Miss DeLay is the subject of a biography by Barbara Lourie Sand, Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician, published in 2000. Miss DeLay also has been the focus of numerous articles and documentaries throughout her career. At Juilliard, she was the director of the Starling-DeLay Institute, whose aim is to discover, train, and develop artist-teachers of the violin. Last year she moderated the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies at Juilliard, How to Teach the Exceptional Young Violinist, assisted by master teachers Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Robert McDuffie, Nadja Salerno-Sonneberg, Midori, Stephen Clapp, Cathy Cho, and Brian Lewis. The symposium was attended by 250 young artists and string teachers from around the world.

Born in Medicine Lodge, Kan., on March 31, 1917, Dorothy DeLay attended Oberlin College, Michigan State University, and what was then called The Juilliard Graduate School before beginning a concert career. That career was interrupted by World War II when her husband, writer Edward Newhouse (a regular contributor to the New Yorker for 30 years) was transferred to a series of Air Force bases. After the war, they settled in Rockland County, N.Y., where they still lived.

The Stuyvesant Trio, 1941, with cellist Nellis DeLay (sister), pianist Helen Brainard, and Dorothy. (Photo by J. Abresch, New York)

Upon learning of her death, Joseph W. Polisi, president of The Juilliard School, stated: "Dorothy DeLay represented the highest level of violin teaching during the second half of the 20th century. Her legacy is reflected in the thousands of violinists who currently are performing and teaching around the world. Her presence and caring personality will be deeply missed worldwide."

In addition to her husband, Dorothy DeLay is survived by two children, daughter Alison Dinsmore of Boston, and a son, Jeffrey Newhouse, of Bronxville, N.Y.; and four grandchildren, Molly and Susannah Dinsmore and Amy Lee and Edward Newhouse. The family has requested that instead of flowers, contributions be made to the Dorothy DeLay Scholarship in Violin at The Juilliard School. No funeral is planned, but a memorial service will be scheduled for later this spring at The Juilliard School.