Rudolf Koelman is a Dutch violinist, born on 2 October 1959 in Amsterdam. He studied with Jan Bor and Herman Krebbers, and from 1978 to 1981 worked under the guidance of Jascha Heifetz in Los Angeles.
From 1996 to 1999, Koelman was concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He taught at the conservatories of Feldkirch and Winterthur and at the Düsseldorf University of Music from 2001 to 2005. Since 2005, he has been a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts. He is also frequently invited to serve on juries for international competitions and to give master classes, including at the International Holland Music Sessions and Keshet Eilon in Israel.
As a soloist, Koelman has appeared with orchestras including the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, West German Radio Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Winterthur Symphony Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, and Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
His recordings include solo violin sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and Eugène Ysaÿe; violin-and-piano sonatas by Johannes Brahms and Sergei Prokofiev; concertos by Henryk Wieniawski, Niccolò Paganini, and Julius Conus; and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. His album Paganini: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 received an Edison Award as the Netherlands' most popular classical CD of 2010.
Koelman performs on a J. F. Pressenda violin made in 1829 and on a violin made by Jaap Bolink in 1984.