Nancy Ellsworth
On May 1, 2023, Nancy H. Ellsworth, 98, of Shepherdstown, West Virginia passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends.
Nancy will be remembered as an important violinist and musical artist in Washington, D.C. She had the character, strength, and talent to be a violin soloist, concertmaster, writer, teacher, and mother.
Born on September 22, 1924, to Wilhelmina R. Harbert and Dr. Ellis Harbert, Nancy was a prodigy at age 4. Her mother, an accomplished musician and performer, inspired her early love of music. Her career as a young violinist attracted the attention of many artists and teachers. She was a student of Hans Blinder, concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony, through whom she became an outstanding soloist giving concerts throughout California in the 1930s.
She attended Mills College, where she studied composition with Darius Milhaud and chamber music with the Budapest quartet. Graduate studies continued with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia until 1946, when she joined the Denver Symphony.
In 1950, she won a position with the Pittsburgh Symphony and met her future husband Mark Ellsworth, with whom she moved to Washington, D.C., a few years later. Some of her musical accomplishments include: concertmaster of the Kennedy Center Orchestra, Washington Opera Orchestra, many years with the National Gallery Orchestra, premiers of Shostakovich’s Second Violin concerto and first performances of works by Xenakis. These, plus numerous concerts for the Kindler Foundation, point to her role as an important violinist and musical artist in America. She was a role model for many and a tireless advocate for equality and blazed more than one trail for women in the arts.
Nancy moved to Shepherdstown from her home in Kensington, Maryland in 1989. She continued to play and teach violin for many years following her retirement from the Kennedy Center. Nancy gave a number of memorable performances at the Train Station in Shepherdstown, accompanied by the late Dr. Scott Beard, Alicia McCormick and her daughter Maggie Terry. During these years, she gained many new friends that were very dear to her. She will be remembered for her generosity of spirit and loving acceptance, not just with family, but with all who crossed her threshold. Wherever she was, “the door was always open.”
Nancy was the author of two books, an inventive cook and baker, loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother survived by: her children, Bill Ellsworth (Kim Bell), Rodger Ellsworth (Eva Nagorka), Brian Ellsworth (Sylvia Nehemias), Maggie Terry (John Terry). She was preceded in death by her stepson Grant Ellsworth and remembered to his widow Susan Marsh Ellsworth. Her grandchildren, Rachel Beach (Ryan Beach), Deanna Weaver (Robert Weaver), Claire Merletti (Michael Merletti), Alexander Ellsworth, Helen Ellsworth, Melissa Ellsworth (Gary DeLuke), Bridget Ellsworth (Jordan Siewek), Mason Ellsworth, Michelle Terry, Nancy Ferrell (Kaitlin Caledonia Ferrell). Her great-grandchildren are Kayla Beach, Nicholas Beach, Erin Beach, Ysabel Weaver, Molly Weaver, Hunter Merletti, Delia DeLuke, and Alfred DeLuke.
A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m. on June 11, 2023, in the Shepherd University Student Ballroom, located at 210 North King Street in Shepherdstown.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Hospice of the Panhandle.