Les Troyens
Nelson studied at Wheaton College and later at the Juilliard School of Music with Jean Morel. Nelson was music director of the Greenwich Philharmonia and the New Jersey Pro Arte, and also served on the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Opera. In 1973, he conducted his New York City opera debut at Carnegie Hall in an uncut performance of Berlioz's "Les Troyens". With the Metropolitan Opera, his professional opera conducting debut was also with "Les Troyens", on one day's notice as an emergency substitute for Rafael Kubelík.