Pauline (19) is the only Belgian candidate in the Queen Elisabeth Competition for violin, and she is certainly not without a chance

“She goes through life like a snail,” is how a Canadian newspaper described Pauline van der Rest. Not because the Brussels violinist is slow. But because she carries her violin almost permanently on her back like a snail carries its house. The young Belgian violinist also agrees, in the supermarket, on the train, but also at night next to her bed she does not part with her violin.

Pauline grew up in Namur as the youngest of seven children. They all play an instrument, but as a six-year-old she resolutely chooses the violin. “At the age of six, according to my mother, I ‘fell in love’ with Prince Gabriel of Belgium. Then, according to her, I set my sights on serious violin studies, so that one day I could participate in the Queen Elisabeth Competition and meet him there,” she says in an earlier interview.

A music teacher sees Pauline’s talent. As a child, she can enter the ‘young talent’ program of the Institut Supérieur Royal de Musique et de Pédagogie (IMEP) in Namur, where she ends up in Igor Tkatchouk’s class. Under his wings she won the Grumiaux competition in 2018. In 2019 she will be the best in the Honda competition, a competition across instruments, for students at one of the eight higher music courses in our country.

Untouched for 50 years

Pauline is therefore increasingly in the sights of top foreign institutes. She completed a bachelor’s degree at the Universität der Künste in Essen, Germany, followed master classes with Leonidas Kavakos, and in 2023 she was admitted to the prestigious Kronberg Academy, where she received lessons from the Dutch star violinist Janine Jansen. Jansen described Pauline in De Volkskrant as a very young but very gifted violinist with her own voice. “She is very intelligent. And very searching as a player, very imaginative.”

Pauline herself does not give interviews these days. All her energy and concentration goes into the competition. “Despite her young age, she knows how to guard her boundaries very well. As the only Belgian, the pressure is also quite high,” says Katelijne Boon, presenter of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. “It’s a good thing that she is fully focused on the match. It is a moment that has been a year in the making and if she reaches the final the competition will take four weeks of her time.”

Not up to her test piece

The young woman is not ready for her test. Exactly one year ago she reached the semi-finals of the Montreal International Music Competition, also a prestigious competition. “She has been in one or another important competition every year since she was ten. And she often takes home big prizes. Her repertoire is now very extensive. Her relatively young age does not have to be an obstacle. She also genuinely enjoys playing in front of an audience, she is actually not that concerned with the professional jury in front of her. That will help her too.”

By the way, she doesn’t play the violin on the first instrument. The violin on which she will perform a Mozart piece on Thursday turns out to be an 18th-century Italian instrument that had been untouched in a box for 50 years. But a Brussels violin maker was so charmed by Pauline’s talent that he decided to give the instrument to her.

The first round of the competition takes place from Monday 6 to Saturday 11 May (sessions at 3 pm and 8 pm), with Pauline Van der Rest performing on Thursday. The semi-finals will take place from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 May (sessions at 3pm and 8pm).