Silipigni was born in Atlantic City and educated at the Juilliard School and Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
For his opera career, Silipigni was part of the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the mid 1950s and played at Carnegie Hall.
Silipigni conducted Puccini's Turandot for the NJSOpera's house debut at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark) in February and March 1998.
In October 2002, Silipigni conducted two performances of Verdi's Aida in Shanghai with a cast of 1,500 and audiences of more than 50,000, according to the NJSOpera web site.
These included Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer, verismo Magda Olivero, and dramatic tenor Nicola Martinucci.