Willis Delony
Inducted 2010
Willis Delony has won national and international acclaim as a jazz and classical pianist, conductor,
chamber player, commercial composer, and arranger. His concert explorations of the jazz and
classical piano worlds have been showcased in a recording entitled, A New World A' Comin' -
Classical and Jazz Connections, which was released on the Centaur label. In a review published by
Fanfare magazine, Peter Burwasser writes: "(Delony) plays with gusto and finesse, and with an
especially nimble rhythmic sensibility, a proper combination of attributes for jazz, or any other kind of
music-making, for that matter." Previous album credits include a recording of sonatas by Samuel
Barber and Sergei Prokofiev, also on the Centaur label, and a jazz album entitled Civilized
Conversations, featuring Delony and bassist Bill Grimes. He is featured in a collaboration with
bassoonist William Ludwig on the recent recording, Rhapsody in Bassoon, on the Mark Records
label, which features the world premiere recording of André Previn's Sonata for Bassoon and Piano.
Most recently, he recorded piano music by Joseph Makholm, David Baker, Bill Dobbins and John
Lewis for an album entitled Double Dance - Classical and Jazz Connections II, to be released by
Centaur Records in 2007.
During recent concert seasons, Delony has appeared as piano soloist or conductor with American
orchestras in Wichita, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto, Madison (Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra),
Spartanburg (South Carolina), Rochester, Omaha, Nashville, Fort Worth, New Orleans (Louisiana
Philharmonic), the Sun River Festival Orchestra in Bend, OR and the Florida Orchestra (Tampa). He
has appeared recently as guest soloist with the Columbus (GA) Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic,
Toledo Symphony, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Louisiana Sinfonietta and, in a 2002 Asian tour,
the Shanghai Symphony. In July, 2006 he performed a solo recital in Offenburg, Germany as part of
the Kreuzgangkonzerte series, performing a special program entitled Jazz Meets Mozart. In
November, 2006 he traveled to Paris for an appearance as solo recitalist on the La Main d'Or
concert series. An experienced jazz arranger, Delony's scores have been performed by orchestras
throughout the U.S. and Canada. His work as pianist, arranger and conductor is currently featured in
Club Swing and Stay Tuned, the popular orchestral shows featuring the Minneapolis-based vocal
group Five By Design. He performed as conductor/pianist on the CD recording of Club Swing, which
was released in January 2002.
Delony is the Barineau Professor of Keyboard Studies and Professor of Jazz Studies at Louisiana
State University in Baton Rouge. Prior to his LSU appointment in August of 2000, he taught for
fourteen years on the music faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University where he received the
university's President's Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity. He is also the recipient of an Artist
Fellowship by the Louisiana Division of the Arts in recognition of his achievements in classical and
jazz performance.
Louisiana Association for Jazz Education
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