Cellist Nelly Rocha has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician in Europe, Asia, Mexico and across the United States in venues such as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Konzerthaus Berlin, Kultur und Kongresszentrum Luzern, Teatro Arcimboldi (Milan), Teatro Calderon (Madrid), China Conservatory of Music (Beijing), Auditorio Nacional (Mexico), and Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico).

Nelly participated in the Porgy and Bess National US tour and the Verbier Festival Orchestra European tour. She has performed with the Distinguished Concerts International New York Orchestra, Miami Symphony, Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, National Lyric Opera, Martina Arroyo Opera, Opera North, Reading Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the off-Broadway show Daddy Long Legs. As a founding member of Quartetto Tomassini, Nelly performed at the Met Museum’s Balcony Music Series and New York’s Latin American Cultural Week.

A passionate advocate of music by women, Nelly has performed recitals featuring female composers at the International Congress of Women in Music, the Encuentro Internacional de Mujeres en el Arte and the Universal Forum of Cultures.

Nelly has performed with artists including: Michael Bublé, Audra McDonald, Hanson, Pink Martini, Deltron 3030, Watsky, Smokey Robinson, Aleks Syntek, Natalia Lafourcade, Ely Guerra and the Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra. She has appeared on Mozart in the Jungle, the Late Night Show with David Letterman, WNYC’s Soundcheck, and can be heard in the GRAMMY award winning album All the Ladies by Joanie Leeds and the album Mi Alma Mexicana with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas released by SONY.

Nelly enjoys performing with the non-profit organizations Concerts in Motion, which provides free concerts for seniors, veterans, the disabled and homeless, and with Music for Autism, which provides free autism-friendly concerts for individuals with autism and their families.

Nelly is originally from Monterrey, Mexico, where she began her musical studies. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Houston and a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University.

A dedicated teacher, Nelly is on faculty at Harold Washington College in Chicago and has taught at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Music Conservatory of Westchester. She completed the two year Suzuki teacher training program at the School for Strings in New York.