Born: 1913

Died: 1967

American violinist Joseph Knitzer studied on NYC with Leopold Auer beginning in 1923 until Auer's passing in 1930. He also studied with Louis Persinger and graduated from the Intitute of Musical Art and Juilliard Graduate School. He made his debut with the New York Symphony in 1927 under the baton of Walter Damrosch, and the Detroit Symphony in 1930.

In 1934,Knitzer was a winner of the Naumburg Competition.

In the early 1940s he became a member of the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition, he taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1941-1954. Later he was on faculty at Northwestern University, the University of Michigan and the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman he was first violinist of the Eastman String Quartet.