Concertmaster Norman Carol said Mr. Panitz, who recently had announced he would retire next spring, was "one of the great flutists and part of the tradition of great flute playing that this orchestra has. He considered the orchestra as part of his family."
Born in New York City, Mr. Panitz began studying the flute at 12, a relatively late start. He graduated from New York's High School of Music and Art at 15, but had to enroll for an extra year because although the Eastman School had accepted him it had a rule against students younger than 16.
In high school he met Myrna Rubenstein, a pianist who later entered the Eastman School with him. Mr. Panitz studied four years with Joseph Mariano, and Rubenstein accompanied Mariano's students. They were married in September 1945.
Mr. Panitz earned a master's degree at the Manhattan School and joined the National Symphony briefly before being drafted. He played in the Army Air Corps Band in Washington.
He joked with friends that he and the band director clashed from the beginning. Mr. Panitz said the conductor told him he "wouldn't have him play first flute in his band even if he were first in the Philadelphia Orchestra."
After his military service, Mr. Panitz returned to New York, where he established himself as a free-lance flutist and was much in demand. He performed with the Bell Telephone Orchestra and was principal flutist with the New York City Ballet, the Symphony of the Air and the Little Orchestra Society of New York.
When he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra, he followed the legendary flutist William Kincaid, but his artistry was so immediately apparent that he suffered none of the damaging comparisons that often follow such a highly visible change.
