011/25/2022
It is with sadness we learned of the death of Floyd Owen Cooley, a recently retired member of the School of Music. He died on Nov. 25, 2022, after a serious illness, He was 74.
Broadly and universally known tubist Floyd O. Cooley has been heard in presentations all through the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, showing up as a soloist, clinician, giving masterclasses, and as a previous individual from the San Francisco Orchestra.
Cooley was more than the heart of the tuba program; his contributions to the school were enormous. He was instrumental in bringing recognition and renown to DePaul’s brass program, demonstrating a level of excellence that inspired his students and colleagues. His influence continues to resonate throughout the brass studies areas following his retirement from teaching in June 2022 after 30 years of excellent service to the DePaul community.
A native of Knoxville, Iowa, Cooley was the son of a tuba player and grew up in a home full of music. He spent one year at Kansas University before receiving a performer’s certificate from Indiana University in 1969.
Cooley was a nationally and internationally known tubist, appearing throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan as a soloist, clinician, educator, and member of the San Francisco Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. When he joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1969, Cooley was the youngest tuba player in any major orchestra in the U.S. He participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival for more than 25 years. He also performed on the Visiting Artist Series in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois for years, playing in schools and festivals for more than 15,000 people.
After his decades-long career with the San Francisco Symphony, he turned to teaching, joining DePaul’s School of Music in 1992. His dedication to teaching and preparing students for a professional life in music could be seen in innumerable ways. He taught tuba, producing many highly successful musicians, and coached brass players through his pedagogy, orchestral repertoire, and concepts classes. His course on studio teaching not only gave students strategies for developing a private teaching practice but also provided them with detailed information and guidance on the art of teaching and entrepreneurship, making it one of the most popular courses in the performance area.
Cooley’s influence on countless tuba students will be felt for generations in ensembles worldwide.
Floyd joined the San Francisco Ensemble in 1969, making him the youngest tuba player in any major US symphony at the time. From that point forward, he has soloed with that ensemble two times. The first was a presentation in 1978 under the rod of Seiji Ozawa, and the second was in 1982 under the stick of Jahja Ling.
An energetic entertainer, Floyd has given presentations in a wide assortment of settings, from little settings to the Carnegie Corridor. As well as performing, he commissioned works by Lord Zindars and Richard Felciano and recorded three independent collections: The Heartfelt Tuba on Precious Stone Records, A Schumann Dream on Culmination Records, and Companions in Low Puts on Albany Records. He played the 1992–93 season with the Chicago Ensemble Symphony.
Floyd has performed on the Meeting Craftsman Series in the Quad Urban Communities of Iowa and Illinois, where he played in schools and plants to over fifteen thousand people, as a performer of very different exercises and interests. Floyd has been praised for his delicate playing, smooth tone, and singing melodic line, regardless of the movement. The San Francisco Annal expressed that “the sheer excellence of tone and specialized precision were astounding.”
The impact was operatically vocal. Floyd has been a member of the Fantastic Teton Live ensemble from 1975–2001.
In 2001, following 31 years with the San Francisco Orchestra, Floyd turned his profession solely to education. While he was with the San Francisco Orchestra, Floyd instructed at the San Francisco Studio of Music and Stanford College.
Presently, he gives ace classes and shows private illustrations all through New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Europe. He is an employee at the DePaul College School of Music, where he fills in as the Metal Facilitator and shows tuba, metal ideas, teaching methods, and trains individuals to show one-on-one.
An inhabitant of Chicago, Floyd partakes in the outdoors: fly-fishing, cooking, fine wine, and his BMW bike.
Floyd Cooley, Part Time Faculty, School Of Music, DePaul University, is pictured Feb. 27, 2018. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)