about Zsolt Eder
Violinist Zsolt Eder has established himself as a versatile and engaging performer and teacher. He has served as Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra since 2011 and currently teaches at the UMKC Conservatory-Academy and the Youth Symphony of Kansas City. His performance schedule includes orchestra, chamber music and concerto performances. Most recently Zsolt performed concertos with the Topeka Symphony (Schumann), the Youth Orchestra of Kansas City (Beethoven) and the Overland Park Orchestra of Kansas City (Tchaikovsky). As a chamber musician, Zsolt performs with the Liatris String Quartet, Spire Chamber Ensemble, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, the Sunflower Music Festival, Buzzards Bay MusicFest, and has appeared as a guest artist with the American Wild Ensemble.
An experienced performer on period instruments, Zsolt was excited to return to the KC Baroque Consortium for their 2026 summer series as a featured soloist on baroque violin. During his student years, Zsolt studied with members of Tafelmusik at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto as well as Apollo's Fire at the Cleveland Institute (Case Western). Currently he performs on baroque violin with Spire Chamber Ensemble and is a regular guest with KCBC.
An avid performer of new music, Zsolt is a member of NewEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble - a Kansas City group dedicated to works of living composers. With New Ear, Zsolt has performed and recorded over 60 works since 2020, and works regularly with composers like Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Ingrid Stoelzel, Jim Mobberley, Susan Kander and Yotam Haber.
As a member of the Liatris String Quartet, Zsolt is artist in residence at the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, running the chamber music program and leading violin and viola sectionals for the orchestras. Zsolt is also a frequent guest clinician for area high schools and presents Masterclasses for area universities regularly. In 25/26 he was chosen to be the guest clinician for the Shawnee Mission School District's annual Orchestra Festival, coached the Kansas All State Orchestra and worked with a Youth Orchestra in Asuncion, Paraguay at the IMA (Instituto Municipal de Arte). In 2026/27 he will be presenting masterclasses at Missouri State University, Drake University and the University of Arkansas.
From 2017-2026 Zsolt was a member of the Opus 76 Quartet with whom he recorded a Beethoven Quartet Cycle in 2020 as well as albums of Mozart and Schubert. The group performed a debut recital in Carnegie Hall in 2023. In addition to regular performances in the Midwest, the Quartet also performed in Florida, Alaska and London (UK) in 2025.
From 2017-2026 Zsolt was a faculty member at Washburn University in Topeka, where he taught violin and viola and led the string program. Zsolt holds a Bachelor and Masters Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Doctoral Degree from UMKC, all in Violin Performance. His Doctoral research centered on the violin music of Mozart and writing Cadenzas for Concertos from the Classical Period.
In addition to violin, Zsolt is an accomplished violist, performing as an orchestral and chamber musician. Zsolt loves the viola and considers himself a bit of an expert in viola jokes, perhaps because secretly he always wanted to be a violist (according to his viola colleagues), and to not have to play high notes above three ledger lines.