Dutch born violinist Rudolf Koelman studied with Jan Bor and Herman Krebbers in Amsterdam. From the age of 18 he studied with the legendary Jascha Heifetz on a full scholarship granted by the University of Southern California. 1996 until 1999 he was first concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. 2000-2005 he was Professor for violin and chamber music at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany. Currently (since 1987) he is Professor and holding a “Chair for life in Violin and Chamber Music” at the ZHdK known as the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland where he also 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 plays a violin made by Giovanni Francesco Pressenda (1829) and the famous "Woolhouse" Stradivarius made in 1720. Since 1981 Rudolf 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, Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.