Kees Hulsmann

Kees Hulsmann started playing the violin when he was 8 years old. He studied first with the eminent Dutch violin educator Davina van Wely and later with Jo Juda at the Amsterdam conservatory.
While studying at the conservatory he formed a duo with Joop van Zon, a conductor and pianist, that was of great influence in his development as a musician. The duo soon toured through the United States, also performing for radio and television.
Hulsmann concluded his studies in Amsterdam "cum laude" and continued his education with Manoug Parikian in London.
After playing a number of concerts in Israel, he was offered the position of concertmaster in the Israel Chamber Orchestra. After a number of years he returned to the Netherlands to be concertmaster of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra.  He was invited to be concertmaster of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and in 1986 he was offered the position of concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, a position that he kept until 2009.
Hulsmann was a guest of honour in almost all the orchestras in London, making an internationally renown registration (on Telarc) of the Sheherezade of Rimsky Korsakov with the London Symphony Orchestra. Beside his position in Rotterdam he was asked  in 1993 to be concertmaster of the Halle Orchestra in Manchester.
Mr .Hulsmann has performed throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, in North and South America and Russia. He played in festivals at Aspen in Colorado, and in France, Brazil, Italy, Korea and Spain.
He has made several recordings, including the first recording (on New Albion) of the First Violin Concerto by American composer Peter Scott Lewis, with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kent Nagano. This resulted in the composition of Lewis' second Violin Concerto, dedicated to Kees Hulsmann. The world premiere was with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with the conductor Alan Gilbert. The concerto was rewritten by the composer for violin and piano and recorded by Hulsmann and pianist Matthew Edwards ( Lapis Island records). With the Russian pianist Irina Kandinskaya he recorded the complete works for violin and piano of Johannes Brahms (for Olympia).
In 2009 Hulsmann left the Rotterdam orchestra to deepen his knowledge of music before 1850. The invitation from the Residentie Orkest in the Hague to be concertmaster there for a few years and try to develop more style awareness in a modern orchestra, was a challenge he could not refuse. He also led the ensemble Camerata Vermeer, an ensemble that performed music of Mozart and contemporaries on period instruments.
Kees Hulsmann has taught now for over 30 years in conservatories in the Netherlands and has given masterclasses all around the world.