Joseph Silverstein, former concertmaster for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, American violinist, conductor and respected pedagogue died on Saturday of a heart attack at the age of 83. Silverstein and his wife Adrienne are long-time residents of Stockbridge. In recent years, he has wintered in Sarasota, Florida. Besides his wife, he leaves three children — Bunny, Deborah and Marc — and four grandchildren.
Mark Volpe, managing director of the BSO, issued a statement in tribute to Silverstein on Sunday:
“Joseph (or Joey as we all addressed him) Silverstein was one of the most important figures in the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Not only was he a legendary concertmaster, he also served as the BSO’s assistant conductor and was a leading teacher who led the faculty at Tanglewood for many years. His students populate the violin section of the BSO as well as many other leading orchestras in the United States and beyond. Furthermore, he served as artistic director of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players from its founding until his departure from the BSO to serve as the Music Director of the Utah Symphony. His legacy with the Boston Symphony Orchestra will continue for decades to come through his students and the multitude of recordings and television shows featuring Joey leading the string section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.”
Joseph Silverstein was born in Detroit on March 21, 1932. As a boy, he was discovered to possess an uncanny ear for pitch. As one story goes, when Silverstein was 3, he heard a spoon fall to the floor of his mother’s kitchen and called out “B-flat!” As a youth, he 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, he 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, Silverstein became concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 22 years. He was appointed assistant conductor in 1971. He was music director of the Utah Symphony from 1983 to 1998. He served as acting music director of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in 2001 until the orchestra’s demise in 2003. He was artistic advisor to the Portland Symphony Orchestra in the 2007-2008 season. He 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. Since1969, he has been a regular faculty artist at the Sarasota Music Festival.
Silverstein performed on a 1742 Guarneri del Gesù.
The family will receive visitors at their home in Stockbridge Tuesday, November 24 from 2 to5 p.m.; Wednesday, November 25 from 10 a.m. to1 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m.; and Friday, November 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
