Dutch Violinist Rudolf Koelman studied the violin with Jan Bor and Herman Krebbers in Amsterdam. From the age of 18 he studied with Jascha Heifetz on a full scholarship granted to him by the University of Southern California. 1996-1999 he was first concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. 2000-2005 Professorship (C4) for violin and chamber music at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany. Currently (since 1987) he is Professor for violin and chamber music at the "Zürcher Hochschule der Künste" (ZHdK) known as the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland where he holds a "chair for life in violin" position and leads the ZHdK Strings chamber orchestra. He is frequently invited as a jury member at international violin competitions and gives masterclasses all around Europe, Asia and Australia.
Koelman has performed frequently world wide as a soloist with a large number of renowned orchestras including Bruckner Orchester Linz, WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
He made numerous TV-, radio- and CD recordings among them a live recording of all 24 Paganini Capricci. In 2010, he performed in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and recorded live both Violin Concertos 1 & 2 by Paganini. These performances were released on Challenge Classics and won the prestigious Edison Award 2010 in The Netherlands. His most recent CD release on Challenge Classics (2017) contains Prokofiev's Violin Concerto's 1 & 2.
'Virtuosity is so natural to him, in each tone, in each
phrase, that he truly musically creates, he sings and lights up a myriad of colours.'
– NZZ Zürich
Koelman plays the "Woolhouse" Stradivari 1720 and a Pressenda 1829.