Violist Rosemary Nelis has performed as chamber musician and soloist throughout the United States and Europe, and joined the Cassatt String Quartet in 2022. Highlights of Ms. Nelis’s recent and current seasons include performances of the complete middle and late Beethoven string quartets; solo recitals of works by Kenji Bunch, Elliott Carter, and Dorothy Rudd Moore; and several important premieres, including American premieres of works by Brett Dean, Hilda Paredes, Roger Tapping, Jörg Widmann, and the New York City premiere of György Kurtág’s …Concertante… for solo violin, viola and orchestra on the Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

Nelis has worked with composers Missy Mazzoli, David Lang, Christine Southworth, Marcelo Zarvos, Jefferson Friedman, Dan Visconti, Andy Akiho, Kenji Bunch, Don Byron, James MacMillan, Brett Dean, Yu-Hui Chang, Jörg Widmann, and Joan Tower. She studied composition both with Ms. Tower and John Halle. As a baroque violist, she has appeared with The Sebastians, Baroquelyn, and with Juilliard415, with whom she performed on a Scandinavian tour in 2019.

Ms. Nelis received both Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Bard College and Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Steven Tenenbom and majored in Chinese Language and Literature. Ms. Nelis was the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship during her Masters studies at The Juilliard School, where she worked with Roger Tapping and Misha Amory. She also spent time at the University of Glasgow, Qingdao University, and Yale School of Music, working with violists Duncan Ferguson and Ettore Causa. Nelis has spent summers performing chamber music at Yellow Barn, Bard Music Festival and Kneisel Hall. 

A devoted teacher, Ms. Nelis has served on the faculty of Kinhaven Music School, and is currently faculty at the Special Music School and the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.