First photo by Dario Acosta Photography; second and third photos by Eva Ravel Photography
Violist Rosemary Nelis has performed as chamber musician and soloist throughout the United States and Europe. She has spent her career as a champion of contemporary music, working with composers including Missy Mazzoli, David Lang, Christine Southworth, Dan Visconti, Andy Akiho, Kenji Bunch, Don Byron, James MacMillan, Brett Dean, Yu-Hui Chang, Jörg Widmann, and Joan Tower. In January of 2022 she became the newest member of the New York-based Cassatt String Quartet, with whom upcoming projects include recordings and major performances of works by Victoria Bond, Rebecca Clarke, Shirish Korde, Tania León, Sato Matsui, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Florence Beatrice Price.
Ms. Nelis received both Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Bard College and the Bard Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Steven Tenenbom and majored in Chinese Language and Literature. She 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. Ms. Nelis has spent summers performing chamber music at Yellow Barn, Bard Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall. In 2022 she served as faculty at the Kinhaven Music School, and is currently a Professor of Viola at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.
Ms. Nelis plays on a 1991 viola made by the Brooklyn-based maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz.
Ms. Nelis will perform with The Orchestra Now on April 30 and May 4, 2023.
Bio: April 2023