Musician Biography
The TSO, Your Professional Symphony
Zsolt Eder follows in his parents’ footsteps. His father was the Concertmaster of the Hungarian Opera in Budapest. His mother was a member of the Kodály Quartet for 10 years and toured all over the world performing. After years of excitement listening to his parents play, Zsolt became adamant to join them as a professional musician at the age of 13. However, he faced a monumental obstacle: his fear of performing onstage.
“I struggled with nerves and tension on stage. The thing that really helped was performing more.”
Battling his performance anxiety, he took an extreme risk traveling overseas to Toronto, Canada to pursue his passion at the Royal Conservatory. His educational journey then led him to UMKC for his Doctorate. Now a confident performer living in Kansas City, he decided to audition for the Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra.
“Topeka has such a strong support for the arts. It has been great meeting our audiences, our donors and board members and seeing that support for music.”
Additionally Zsolt has a busy career performing in several chamber groups including the NewEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, teaching as the violin and viola professor at Washburn University, and soloing. When asked what he hopes audiences take away from his performances, he said,
“I remember the excitement of hearing a great concert when I was younger. I still get that feeling. I hope our audiences leave with that same sense of excitement and fulfillment.”