Musician Bio

Melissa Deal joined the Indianapolis Symphony in January 2020. She has previously performed with orchestras such as Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Houston Symphony and St. Louis Symphony. Festival experiences include Verbier Festival, Spoleto Festival, Aspen Music Festival and National Repertory Orchestra. One of her most memorable career highlights is performing as a soloist with the Orquésta Sinfónica Nacíonal de Cuba in Havana, as part of a People-to-People outreach trip with the Nachito Herrera Foundation.

Melissa is a passionate chamber musician and educator. She led educational outreach programs for the Cleveland Chamber Society and the Strings Music Festival. Melissa holds degrees from Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University. Her influential teachers include Kathleen Winkler, William Preucil, Sally O’Reilly and Mary West. In her spare time, Melissa likes to run outdoors and bake goodies indoors. She also loves to host sight-reading parties complete with pizza and wine!