Queen Elisabeth Competition
Pauline van der Rest, the only Belgian participant in the Queen Elisabeth Competition, is one of the remaining 24 candidates.
Late on Saturday evening, after the first round of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the candidates who advanced to the semi-finals were announced. Pauline van der Rest, the third youngest participant at the age of nineteen, is one of the 24 lucky ones. She made a big impression in the first round with a thoughtful performance.
The semi-finalists include six Americans, three Ukrainians, three Koreans, two Russians, in addition to musicians from China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Denmark and France – fourteen men and ten women. One of the Korean candidates is SonHa Choi, the sister of Hayoung Choi, who won the cello edition of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2022.
Concert in recital
The semi-finals start on Monday. All candidates play two programs: a concerto and a recital. For that first program they are given the choice of three concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They are accompanied by the Orchester Royal de Chambre de Wallonie. In their recital they play works of their choice with piano accompaniment: each candidate prepares two programs, from which the jury chooses one program the day before the performance. In addition, they are also given a compulsory work: ‘The sun and her flowers’ by Charlotte Bray, specially composed for the competition.
At the previous violin edition of the competition, Belgian violinist Sylvia Huang reached the final and received the audience award. Pauline van der Rest plays her recital program on Monday afternoon and her Mozart concerto on Thursday evening.
