Ely Haimowitz

Ely Haimowitz, Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Nevada Reno, died on November 15 at his home in Reno. He was 90.
Professor Haimowitz, a concert pianist, was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 3, 1920. He began his musical studies at age ten. At 15 he won a full scholarship to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. After graduating with honors, he was awarded a fellowship at the Juilliard Graduate School in New York under Josef and Rosina Lhevinne. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served as a cultural affairs officer in the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea, where he helped organize the first Korean Symphony Orchestra and other musical groups. He then returned to Juilliard where he earned his Master's Degree. In 1952 he met Valentin Pavlovsky, a Russian pianist who had been a close friend of Sergei Rachmaninoff and accompanist to Piatigorsky and other great artists. He studied with Pavlovsky for seven years and considered him his greatest teacher. His daughter, Valerie, is Valentin's namesake.
Ely Haimowitz's career as a pianist has included several tours of Europe and Asia and performances with the London Philharmonic, Seoul Radio Symphony, Miami Beach Symphony and other orchestras.
His family, his wife, Leonore, and daughter, Valerie, all moved from New York City to Reno in 1965, when he began teaching at UNR. He taught piano students, graduate and undergraduate, and Music Appreciation. He was passionate about communicating his love of music to the hundreds of students who took Music Appreciation. He often ran into former students who told him how much they had enjoyed his class.
In 1987 Mr. Haimowitz was invited to China to give recitals, master classes and lectures in several major cities. He subsequently toured China three more times.
He retired from UNR in 1996, and taught piano privately in Reno for thirteen more years.
Ely Haimowitz's wife Leonore died in 1996. His sister, Mildred Aronov, died in 2009. He is survived by his daughter, Valerie, of Reno; brother, Morris, of Oakland, Ca.; brother-in-law, Norman Kantor, of Fort Lee, N.J.; companion, Merry Anne Davis, of Reno; and nine nephews and nieces.
Thank you to Dr. Larry Noble, Jan-Louise, and all the staff at Reno Heart Physicians for your wonderful care of Professor Haimowitz.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.