Neal Eisfeldt, violin

Meet Neal

Neal performs on Show 426.

Neal Kotamarty Eisfeldt (violin), 13, hails from Lake Zurich, Illinois, and is a Merit Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy. He studies violin with Almita Vamos and Injoo Choi. He started his violin studies at the age of three and a half at the Betty Haag Academy. He is also a fellow of the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative. In the summer of 2022, Neal made his entry into the world of composition in collaboration with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and Chicago From Scratch and composed his first solo piece named “Ukrainian Dream and Cradle” in dedication to the pain and suffering of the Ukrainian people. Neal made his solo debut at the age of ten at Carnegie Hall, winning first place at the Crescendo International Music Competition (multiple years). He also made his solo orchestral debut at the age of 11 with the Midwest Conservatory of Music (postponed due to Covid). He has won top honors in several competitions, including Society of American Musicians, Sejong Music Competition, DePaul Concerto Festival, Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the International Young Artist Concerto competition, and the Midwest Conservatory of music. He won the overall Grand Prize in all categories up to 25 years old in the Enkor international festival, with a jury of 500+ members from 70+ countries. He was also awarded the First Prize and the Exceptional Young talent special award at both the Bonn and Salzburg “Grand Prize Virtuoso” competitions. Most recently he was awarded both Rising Star and Top Performing Artist in the Sound Espressivo International competition. In addition to performing solo, Neal enjoys playing chamber music with the Rosa and Scaleno quartets in the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, his favorite being Dvořák’s American. He is an avid orchestral musician and plays in the Academy’s orchestra and formerly played in the Midwest Philharmonic Orchestra. Neal has taken master classes with renowned musicians such as Ani Kavafian, Ray Chen, Augustine Hadelich and has also received coaching from laureates such as Rachel Barton Pine, James Ehnes, Julia Fischer, and Philip Setzer. In his free time, he enjoys listening to his favorite violinists Itzhak Perlman and Jascha Heifetz as well as cooking and spending time with his sister.