Pauline van der Rest (b. 2004) is a Belgian violinist born in Brussels. She began playing the violin at the age of six, studying privately with Igor Tkatchouk, and in 2016 she joined the Young Talent Program at the IMEP Conservatory in Namur. Since 2020, she has been a student of Boris Garlitsky, continuing her training in his class at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen from 2021. She is currently pursuing her studies at the Kronberg Academy under the mentorship of Janine Jansen and Boris Garlitsky, with the generous support of the von Rom/Ludwig Heuse Patronage.
Pauline has garnered numerous accolades in international competitions. In 2018, she took first prize at the Grumiaux Competition, the Odessa International Violin Competition, and the Classic Academy Competition in Liège. In 2019, she won first prize at the Honda Competition and second prize at the Louis Spohr International Competition in Weimar. More recently, she was a semifinalist at both the 2023 Concours Musical International de Montréal (violin edition) and the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition.
She has appeared at major venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, Bozar Brussels, the Moscow International House of Music, and Laeiszhalle Hamburg. As a soloist, she has performed with acclaimed ensembles including the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, the Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie, the Royal Harmonic Orchestra of Guides, and the Grumiaux Ensemble.
A passionate chamber musician, Pauline has shared the stage with esteemed artists such as Janine Jansen, Sunwook Kim, Torleif Thedéen, Gary Hoffman, and Timothy Ridout. She has also participated in masterclasses with leading musicians including Gidon Kremer, Iván Fischer, the late Sir Alfred Brendel, Sir András Schiff, Christoph Eschenbach, and Leonidas Kavakos – with whom she studied regularly thanks to a scholarship awarded between 2019 and 2020.
Pauline currently performs on a violin made by Antonio Stradivari.