The Serbian violinist Jelena Ristic graduated from the Novi Sad Arts Academy, where she studied with Dejan Mihailović, subsequently studying with Ilya Grubert in Amsterdam.
From 2005 to 2007, she made solo appearances with the Niš Symphony Orchestra, the Novi Sad Arts Academy Orchestra and the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra. She was appointed principal violinist of the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008. She has served as assistant principal violinist of the Brabant Orchestra and Holland Symfonia, and as principal violinist of several orchestras in Denmark.
Ristic joined the first violin section of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in April 2013.
She plays on a J.B. Vuillaume violin (c. 1845), an instrument played on by orchestra member Tony Rous until his retirement. The instrument is owned by the Foundation Concertgebouworkest .