Joseph Silverstein was born on March 21, 1932, and died in Boston on November 22, 2015.

He was an American violinist and conductor.

Joseph was born in Detroit. As a youth, Silverstein studied with his father, Bernard Silverstein, who was a public school music teacher.

He later studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Efrem Zimbalist, and also studied with William Primrose, Josef Gingold, and Mischa Mischakoff.

In 1959, Joseph won a silver medal at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and in 1960 was awarded the Naumburg Award from the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation.

In 1962, Joseph became concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 22 years.

Joseph was appointed assistant conductor in 1971.

He was music director of the Utah Symphony from 1983 to 1998.

Joseph served as acting music director of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in 2001 until the orchestra’s demise in 2003.

He was the artistic advisor to the Portland Symphony Orchestra in 2007 to 2008 season.

Joseph has served as a professor of violin at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, following his position at the New England Conservatory in Boston.

Since 1969, Joseph has been a regular faculty artist at the Sarasota Music Festival.

Joseph performed on a 1742 Guarneri del Gesù.

Joseph passed away on November 22, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts from a heart attack at the age of 83.