David Van Vactor; Composer, Conductor of Knoxville Symphony

David Van Vactor, 87, composer and conductor whose more than 100 works include the “Symphony No. 1 in D,” which won the 1939 American Composers Contest sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. A native of Indiana, Van Vactor was an accomplished flutist as a soloist and with major symphony orchestras. He toured South America for the State Department before founding the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Tennessee in 1947. He was conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for 25 years and has been guest conductor of many world-class orchestras, including the London Symphony. Nearly 30 of his compositions have been recorded, among them symphonies, concerti and works for chorus, orchestra and chamber groups. In Century City on Thursday.