John de Lancie

Oboist John de Lancie was born near San Francisco on July 26, 1921 and entered the Curtis Institute at the age of 14 to study with Marcel Tabuteau. After playing solo oboe in Philadelphia’s Robinhood Dell and the Pittsburgh Symphony with Fritz Reiner, he was in the Army Band and later, the O.S.S. in South Africa and France from 1941 to 1945. He joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1946 and became their Solo Oboist in 1954. Mr. de Lancie was the director of Curtis for seven years.