Instrument/Department: Piano; Jazz Piano; Ensembles; Jazz Studies
Joined Hochstein Faculty in: 1985
Mambo Kings musical director and pianist Richard DeLaney, born and raised in Lima, Peru, has been active as a jazz pianist, arranger, and composer in Rochester since earning a Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1978.
He has written and performed music for film, television, the stage, and the concert hall. He has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) and the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, as well as with Paquito D'Rivera, Bobby Sanabria, and numerous bandleaders in Rochester.
His original compositions and arrangements for orchestra have been performed throughout the U.S. and Canada, by the Baltimore, Dallas, Vancouver, and Detroit symphonies and the RPO, among many others.
He produced three recordings for Mambo Kings – Marinera (2003), Live! (2005) and Nostalgia (2008) – on their own label, Mambokingdom Music.
Richard joined the piano faculty of the Hochstein School of Music in 1985 and has directed the school’s Jazz Ensemble Program since 2001. He is currently coaching two student jazz ensembles. He received the Faculty Service Award in 1996.