Jascha Silberstein, born Hannes Bruno Willer, (21 April 1934 — 21 November 2008, Hot Springs, Arkansas) was a German-born American musician.
He was for thirty years first cellist of the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
[1] After playing for several years with a gypsy band in Wiesbaden and an orchestra in Munich,[1] he studied cello with Rudolf Hindemith, Paul Hindemith's brother,[1] and the legendary Czech violinist Váša Příhoda.
In 1962, leaving the Nuremberg Opera orchestra,[1] he accepted a teaching position at Texas Western College in El Paso,[1] and was also principal cellist in the El Paso Symphony Orchestra[1] during the 1962-63 season.
In the late 1960s and the 1970s,[5][6] he appeared often at Butler University's Festival of Neglected Romantic Music,[6] playing works that had not been heard in decades, several of which he recorded.