Born in
Blagoveshchensk, in the
Russian Far East, Haieff received his primary education at
Harbin,
Manchuria. In 1931 he went to the U.S., where he studied with
Rubin Goldmark and
Frederick Jacobi at the
Juilliard School of Music in New York City (1934–38). In 1938-39 he also studied with
Nadia Boulanger in Paris and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He became a U.S. citizen and held U.S. citizenship for 55 years, until his death. He held a
Guggenheim Fellowship in
1946 and again in
1949, and was a Fellow at the
American Academy in Rome (1947–48). His Divertimento (1944) was choreographed by
George Balanchine in 1947. He won the
Rome Prize in 1949. He was a visiting composition and music theory professor at Carnegie Institute of Technology for the 1962-63 School year. He was a professor at the
University at Buffalo (1962–68), and composer-in-residence at the
University of Utah (1968–70). His Piano Concerto won the
New York Music Critics'
Circle Award (1952) and his 2nd Symphony the
American International Music Fund Award (1957). Haieff's notable students include
Paul Ramsier. He was married to Sheila Jeanne Agatha van Meurs in 1988. He died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 79. ==List of works==