Robin Veldman

Hi, I’m Robin Veldman (The Hague, 1998), and I’m a violinist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

I started playing the violin when I was five. My first violin teacher initially told me that playing the violin wouldn’t really be an option for me because my hands were too small. Fortunately, this was solved by using the smallest size violin available. After playing the violin for a few years, I joined the Hofstads Youth Orchestra (2007), where I discovered my great love for playing with others, and I decided to audition for the high school program in music and dance in Rotterdam (Codarts). There, I combined my high school studies with lessons at the conservatory under Thijs Kramer and Andras Czifra.

After Codarts, I enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague to pursue my bachelor’s degree in violin under Theodora Geraets. There, we realized together that some of the finger spans were actually too wide for my hands, and that this was causing me a lot of trouble. After a while, we decided to try a 7/8 violin. This was the solution to my problems! Thanks to the shorter distances, I could play everything without any trouble. Fortunately, during this search, I was able to turn to the Musical Instrument Fund for a beautiful 7/8 instrument.

I was able to make beautiful music on this violin for quite some time. It led me, among other things, to the European Union Orchestra and the academy of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.

After completing my bachelor’s degree, I began taking master’s-level lessons with Lisa Jacobs. And no matter how hard we worked together on the tone, there was ultimately a limit to what that beautiful 7/8 violin could achieve. So I started my search again at the Musical Instrument Fund, where I was able to find a beautiful Italian violin with exactly the sound I was looking for.

Right now, the violin and I are incredibly close (I’m speaking for the violin here, too). The instrument has so many different tonal colors and has given me the opportunity to learn to make music on a deeper level. Together, we have a lot of fun playing every kind of repertoire, from Mozart to Schoenberg.

This violin has also opened up so many opportunities for me, such as the academy at the Nedpho and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and most recently, a position with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. So I’m incredibly grateful to be able to play such a beautiful instrument, and I look forward to many more adventures.