 He was elected honorary member of the Alpha chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity in 1917.Kneisel was for many years associated with the Worcester Festival in Massachusetts, first as concertmaster and assistant conductor (1885–96) and then as conductor (1897–1909).In 1905, he moved to New York to become the first head of the violin department of the newly established Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School of Music), where he remained until his death.