Katims was born in Brooklyn and educated at
Columbia University. His parents were from
Russia and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father changed the family surname from Katimsky some years after he arrived in New York. He started as a violinist but the
Belgian-born violist, conductor and educator
Léon Barzin advised him to switch to viola. Katims played with a number of chamber music ensembles, including the New York Piano Quartet, and was an extra violist with the notable
Budapest String Quartet with which he collaborated for 15 years and made six highly regarded recordings, beginning in 1941. He played at various festivals like the
Casals Festival in
Puerto Rico. Katims gave viola master classes in
China and
Israel, taught at various colleges such as Juilliard in New York and Northwestern in suburban Chicago, as well as the
University of Washington, and transcribed and edited viola music. He joined the
NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1943, replacing the well-known
William Primrose on the first-desk of the section. During his decade with the orchestra, Katims developed a close relationship with conductor
Arturo Toscanini and became his assistant. He conducted orchestras such as the
New York Philharmonic,
Philadelphia Orchestra,
Boston Symphony,
London Philharmonic,
Cleveland Orchestra and
Montreal Symphony. He organized a series of chamber music concerts titled Candlelight Musicales, in the Spanish Ballroom of the Olympic Hotel, with visiting soloists such as violinist
Isaac Stern, cellist
Leonard Rose and pianists
Leon Fleisher and
Claudio Arrau. Katims often would play his viola and his wife Virginia, the cello. One of Katims' major accomplishments in Seattle was the conversion of the Civic Auditorium into the Opera House. His leadership was crucial in securing public money for the project, the auditorium destined to be shared by
Seattle Opera and
Pacific Northwest Ballet as well as the Seattle Symphony. In 1966, Katims was named Seattle's 'First Citizen' by the Seattle Real Estate Board, and his portrait was featured on the cover of the Seattle telephone book. From 1976 to 1985 Katims served as artistic director of the
University of Houston School of Music. His influence enabled the school to attract and hire several notable musicians, such as
Carlisle Floyd,
Elena Nikolaidi, and
Abbey Simon, to the faculty. ==Later years/death==