Remembering Joane Bennett

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family mourns the loss of Joane Bennett, who served as assistant principal flute from 1958 until 1968. She died in Paris, France, on November 18, 2024, at the age of 90.

Born on March 16, 1934, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Bennett grew up in Florida and later attended the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music as a student of Robert Cavally, receiving a bachelor’s degree in music education. While in Ohio, she performed as principal flute of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and later studied with William Kincaid, principal flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

At the invitation of sixth music director Fritz Reiner, Bennett joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1958 as assistant principal flute. Over the next decade, she appeared with the Orchestra as soloist, performed as principal flute and soloist with the Grant Park Symphony, as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and as a member of the Flancel Quartet. Bennett also served on faculty at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. 

Along with pianist William Browning, Bennett made her solo recital debut in New York’s Carnegie Hall on May 13, 1967, in a program that included the world premiere of Heuwell Tircuit’s Sonata 1967. “Both Miss Bennett and Mr. Browning played with complete technical control and immaculate ensemble,” wrote Robert Sherman in the New York Times. “There was a remarkable unanimity of phrasing, of temperament, of musical purpose. . . . Miss Bennett achieves a gentle mellow flute sound, full without being lush . . . a special delight.”

In 1968, Bennett was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study French baroque music and moved to Paris. She also worked as an advisor and collaborator with former CSO seventh music director Jean Martinon at the Orchestre National de l’ORTF (now the Orchestre National de France). 

Bennett later worked for the record company Pathé-Marconi EMI as an external relations manager and as a press officer for the Opéra-Comique. She also organized major international competitions, including the Classic 2000 and the Vendôme Prize at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Bennett also served as longtime advisor to the Orchestre de la Cité Universitaire and was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Alumni Association.

Details for services are pending.

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