Joseph Christianson is active as a session violinist and teacher in Nashville, Tennessee. For seven years he was a member of Quartet San Francisco. The quartet’s album Raymond Scott Reimagined received a 2024 Grammy nomination.

He has collaborated with artists including Augustin Hadelich, Tower of Power, Take 6 and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. He has performed at festivals including Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival; Cremona Music Festival; ASEAN Festival in Nanning, China; Colorado College Summer Music Festival; and Castleton Festival in Muscat, Oman with Lorin Maazel.

Joseph has performed with Nashville Symphony, Berkeley Symphony and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. He is active as a session violinist for Nashville Scoring Orchestra, Zimmitti Music Group, Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, and Magik*Magik Orchestra.

He appeared on American Public Radio's Performance Today upon the release of Quartet San Francisco’s album A QSF Journey, and appeared on national television performing Heinrich Biber’s Mystery sonata no. 16 in a solo violin performance on EWTN.

Joseph grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA and studied at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and San Francisco Conservatory. He has received a B.M. and M.M. in violin performance. His mentors include Nina Bodnar, Axel Strauss, Bettina Mussumeli, Catherine van Hoesen and Herbert Greenberg.

With over 15 years of experience as a violin instructor, Joseph maintains a busy teaching schedule in the Nashville area and remotely over Zoom. His students’ accomplishments include winning/placing in competitions including the Northern California Young Talents Competition, winning auditions for California All-State Orchestra, and admission to schools including Cornell, Dartmouth, and USC.