Violist Rosemary Nelis has performed as a chamber musician and soloist throughout the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. Major performances include American premieres of works by composers Brett Dean, Hilda Paredes, Jörg Widmann, in addition to her Carnegie Hall solo debut at the New York City premiere of György Kurtág’s …Concertante… for solo violin, viola and orchestra. Nelis has spent her career as a champion of contemporary music, working with composers including Missy Mazzoli, Andy Akiho, Kenji Bunch, Don Byron, James MacMillan, Kian Ravaei, Yu-Hui Chang, Tania Leon, and Joan Tower.

Nelis has performed extensively at chamber music festivals including Yellow Barn, Bard Music Festival, Valley of the Moon, Kneisel Hall, Lake George Music Festival and Saratoga Chamber Players. Nelis has served as faculty at Kinhaven Music School (2022), and is currently faculty at the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, Special Music School, the Eisman Center at Queens College, and Montclair State University.

Nelis began her studies at the Special Music School under the tutelage of Viktor Basis. She went on to receive both Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Bard College Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Steven Tenenbom and majored in Chinese Language and Literature. 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 studied at the University of Glasgow, Qing Dao University, and Yale School of Music, working with violists Duncan Ferguson and Ettore Causa. In Fall of 2025 Nelis will begin her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the CUNY Graduate Center as a where she will study with Mark Steinberg. Nelis plays a 1991 viola made by the Brooklyn-based maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz.