Melissa Deal is a violinist from Bloomington, Minnesota and new member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. As an orchestral player, she has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Canton Symphony. She has participated in festivals including New York String Orchestra Seminar, Charles Castleman Quartet Program, Brevard Music Center, and Aspen Music Festival, where she attended as a fellowship recipient. She also attended National Repertory Orchestra as Principal Second Violin and performed as a soloist. An avid chamber musician, she has performed for the Cleveland Chamber Music Society and participated in intensive chamber music programs under the tutelage of the Cavani Quartet, Peter Salaff, Sharon Robinson, and Jaime Laredo. She has also studied chamber music with artists such as Sylvia Rosenberg, Eugene Drucker, Lydia Artymiw, Darrett Adkins, and Anita Pontremoli, and members of the Cavani, Calder, Cleveland and Parker Quartets. In 2013, Melissa was sponsored by the Nachito Herrera Foundation to travel to Havana, Cuba and perform as soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba at the CubaDisco festival. She received her Bachelor of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with William Preucil, and a Master of Music degree at Rice University, where she studied with Kathleen Winkler.