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BSO Principal Cellist Dies At 85

Jules Eskin plays the cello in 1964
Boston Symphony Orhestra
Jules Eskin plays the cello in 1964

The principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra has died. Jules Eskin spent more than five decades with the orchestra.

Eskin began his BSO career in 1964 and played for five music directors. He was a founding member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. The Philadelphia native joined the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as a teenager, but got an early taste of the BSO as he notes in an interview shared by the orchestra.

“I was a student at Tanglewood in 1948 at the age of 16 right before I went to Dallas,” said Eskin.

Eskin died at his Brookline, Massachusetts home after battling cancer. He was 85. 

Jim was WAMC’s Assistant News Director and hosted WAMC's flagship news programs: Midday Magazine, Northeast Report and Northeast Report Late Edition.
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