Robert Soetens (19 July 1897 – 22 October 1997) was a French violinist, remembered particularly for premiering the Violin Concerto No.
Robert Soetens was born in Montluçon, France in 1897, into a musical family of Belgian origin.
At 13 he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Vincent d'Indy, Camille Chevillard and Lucien Capet.
At the age of 16, he played in the premiere of the First String Quartet of Darius Milhaud, a fellow student at the Conservatoire.
In Brussels, he came in contact with Sergei Prokofiev, who chose Soetens and Samuel Dushkin to premiere his Sonata for Two Violins in 1932.
Not being able to return without official German permission, he remained there until the end of the war, concertizing in Spain, Portugal and North Africa.
In 1983, aged 85, he performed Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins in a concert to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the composer's death.