A native from France, Pauline Kempf received her Doctor of Music degree in violin  performance from Northwestern University where she studied with Blair Milton. She dedicated her  research to the Canadian composer Eckhardt-Gramatté and her works for solo violin. She earned  her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in both violin performance and chamber music from the  Music Universities of Geneva and Vienna. As a chamber musician and a soloist, Pauline has  performed with the Leggio Quartet in Europe and in the USA and collaborated with the Amateurs  Virtuoses Festival in France and South America. Her collaboration with the American pianist Clare  Longendyke has allowed them to perform both in France and in the USA with innovative and  original duo programs. A first-prize winner in international competitions in Germany and Italy,  Pauline has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. 

Pauline relocated to California in 2020 and enjoys performing with different San Francisco-based  ensembles such as One Found Sound, Wave Chamber Collective and the Hidden Valley Strings  Orchestra. A former violin instructor at DePaul University Pre-College (Chicago), Pauline currently  coaches chamber music at SFCM’s Pre-College Academy and teaches violin and viola at the Scherzo  Music School in San Mateo. 

Passionate about the historically informed practice and scholarship, Pauline studied baroque violin  with Elizabeth Blumenstock at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was selected to  participate in EMA’s Emerging Artists Showcase performing an all 17th-century program during the  2022 Berkeley Festival and Exhibition in Berkeley. She is the co-founder of the early music band  Ensemble Affect and regularly performs with several other period instrument ensembles such as  Haymarket Opera Company, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and the California Bach  Society.