In its 3rd Summer the Molaeb Festival For Chamber Music And Fine Arts presents:
PHÖNIX QUARTET VIENNA 
Works by: Beethoven, Bartok and Schostakowitsch. 
Friday, September 8 at 8:00pm at the American Univerity of Beirut AUB - ASSEMBLY HALLBliss Street - Hamra - Beirut
FREE ENTRANCE

www.molaeb.com71229588


Musicians Biographies: 
Tanja Sonc: Tanja Sonc belongs to the young generation of gifted Slovene violinists. She has received nu-merous awards and first prizes at national and international competitions. Among others, she won the Brahms Competition in Pörtschach (Austria, 2011) and the Ferdo Livadić International Competition for young Musicians (Croatia, 2012). Furthermore she was the absolute winner of the Young Virtuoso - Etudes and Scales Competition held in Zagreb. In 2015 she was awarded 3rd prize in the Kiwanis Competition in Zürich and in 2016 she won the New Stars Competition. 
Tanja started her music education at the age of five. After studying with Primož Novšak at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, she continued at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Igor Ozim and Wonji Kim Ozim. She currently studies with Nora Chastain at the Zürich University of the Arts. In 2012 she was accepted as a trainee at the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich. From the season 2017/2018 she will be a member of chamber orchestra "Zürcher Kammerorchester". 
As a soloist, Tanja Sonc has performed with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sloveni-an RTV Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Croatian RTV Symphony Orchestra and many others. She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Marko Letonja, George Pehlivanian, Keri Lynn Wilson, Petko Dimitrov, En Shao. 
Tanja participated in the Seiji Ozawa International Academy, Hohenstaufen Chamber Music Academy, Kronberg Masterclass and in the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove. She is "Artist in Residence" at the Molaeb Festival For Chamber Music And Fine Arts. In 2016 she founded the Sonc Festival, a chamber music festival in Slovenia. 
Tanja Sonc was awarded a three-year scholarship from Notenstein's La Roche Privatbank and is a protégé of Gallus Foundation. Since 2017 she is a scholar at the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz. 

Benjamin Herzl: Born in Salzburg in 1994 Benjamin Herzl stems from a family of musicians. From the early age of three years onwards he already received violin lessons from his father, 2005 he was accepted at the "Leopold Mozart Institute for the Highly Gifted" at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg by Prof. Klara Flieder-Pantillon. In 2011 he transferred to Christian Altenburger, at the University of Music in Vienna. In the season of 2011/2012 he was honoured with the invitation to work with Christian Tetzlaff at the "Kronberg Academie". He received lessons from Pierre Amoyal, Vadim Gluzman, Thomas Riebl, Benjamin Schmid and Ivry Gitlis. 
Between 2004 and 2006 the young violinist won several first prizes as a soloist and chamber music player at the competition "Prima la Musica". In 2007 he won a prize for his Mozart playing at the Mozarteum University and therefore gave his debut as a soloist with the "Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim" conducted by Klaus Arp. In 2008 he won the 1st prize in the European competition "A.u.V. Marcosig" in Gorizia/Italy with further concerts in Venice and Udine. 
Herzl has been invited to famous international festivals including the "Internationales Bachfest Salzburg", "Haniel Akademie Duisburg", "Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern", "Internationales Mozartfest Mannheim", "Europäisches Jugend Musikfestival Passau (Young Classic Europe)" and "Diabelli Sommer Mattsee 2015". 
After his success in 2013 with the "Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt" conducted by Lavard Skou-Larsen, he was selected as an awardee for the "Mozartgesellschaft Dortmund" and played W. A. Mozart's Violin Concerto K. 219 with the "Salzburg Chamber Soloists" in the sold out Dortmund Concert Hall in 2014. At the end of the year he stepped in front of the Viennese audience, playing with renowned pianist Christopher Hinterhuber. At the "Salzburger Kammermusikfestival 2015" he played together with Thomas Zehetmair, Clemens Hagen and Thomas Riebl. 
On 1st January 2015 Benjamin Herzl gave his debut with the "Philharmonie Salzburg" conducted by Florian Krumpöck with Hubay's Carmen Fantasy in the "Großes Festspielhaus" (Great Festival Hall of Salzburg). 
In June of 2015 he was invited by the "Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss" to perform in the "Rosengarten" in front of eight thousand listeners. 


Ribal Molaeb Born in Baissour Mount-Lebanon, Molaeb initially studied the Violin at the age of 6 at the Lebanese High National Conservatory before switching to the Viola. 
At the age 16, Ribal was invited to participate in the "Young Artists Festival, Bayreuth, Germany". One year later, he started studying at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg in the Class of Prof. Thomas Riebl before moving to Vienna to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Thomas Selditz. Molaeb was a prize winner at the Margot Babikian Competition. 
As a chamber musician, Molaeb had workshops guided by Maestro Daniel Barenboim in Berlin in the years 2011-2012 where he also received lessons by musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic. He attended the Hohenstaufen chamber music academy, Germany, from the year 2012 till 2017. He performed in prestigious Musikverein Vienna, Mozarthaus Vienna, and ''Friday Nights with Yury Revich'', Played with ensembles like ''United Strings Of Europe'', ''Atout Ensemble Vienna'', ''Saraband Ensemble'' and in chamber music festivals like: 'Ghalboun Festival', 'Beirut Chants', 'Beethoven fest Bonn', ' Saison de musique de chambre - Universitè Antonine', 'Sonc Festival'... 
As an orchestra musician, Molaeb is a member of Daniel Barenboim's prestigious West-Eastern Divan Orchestra since 2010. He also played around Europe with orchestras like the Bach Academy Orchestra and its founder Helmuth Rilling, and as a principle Violist with Seymon Bychkov and the Webern Symphony Orchestra in Musikverein Vienna. 
As a recitalist, Molaeb performed several recitals in different venues in Lebanon. such as the Assembly Hall at the American University of Beirut, at the St. Maroun Chapel. the USEK University and at the Balamand University. in 2016 he made his debut with Brahms sonata at the prestigious Musikverein in Vienna. 
Molaeb composed and performed theatre music for director Mounir Abou Debs, ''founder of the modern theater school in Lebanon in 1960'', and the film music of ''A Life Worth Living'' a film featuring his father, artist Jamil Molaeb. 
In summer 2015, he founded the ''Molaeb Festival For Chamber Music And Fine Arts'' which takes place in the Jamil Molaeb Museum, Mount-Lebanon. ​

Sary Khalifé Born in Lebanon in 1990, Sary Khalife started playing piano at the age of five. He perused piano studies for ten years with Narine Abrilian classes and Angela Hadichian. From the age of eight, He Began to perform in recitals with his brother Ayad. 
In parallel, Sary started learning The cello when he was Seven years old with his first teacher Sarkis Kochkarian. He performed many concerts along with his brother in the Assemble Hall at the American University of Beyrouth (AUB), in the Unesco hall in Lebanon, as well in the Evangelical church of Beiruth in 2005 under the Al Bustan festival. 
At the age of twelve, he won the first prize of the Babikian competition and performed the concerto of Saint-Saëns as cello soloist with the National Orchestra of Lebanon then the Haydn concerto in D ,with this same orchestra three years later. 
In 2004, Sary got his Cello degree from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique du Liban. He was admitted in the prestigious West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Conducted by Daniel Barenboïm with whom he tours 6 weeks per year in the most prestigious halls such as Albert Hall in London, Pleyel Hall, Art Oriental Centre of Shanghai, and in Berlin grand theaters, Vienne and Cologne. 
In parallel to his young career, Sary improved himself by taking classes with big masters such as Yoyo Ma, Lluis Claret, Anne Gastinel, Jerôme Pernoo. In 2006, he Was admitted to the classe Of Xavier Gagnepain in the CRR of Boulogne-Billancourt (France) and obtained his first prize unanimously in June 2008 ,while taking advantage of the chambre Music classes Of Hortense Cartier-Bresson's , before being admitted in the Pôle Supérieur Paris-Boulogne in September 2009. 
In January 2013, he performed along with his brother Ayad Khalife and Karim Saleh the triple concerto of Beethoven in C Major with the National orchestra of Qatar under The direction of Michalis Économou. Ever since September 2011, Sary had been the student of Rolland Pidoux, Xavier Phillips and currently the student of Marc Coppey and Pauline Bartissol at Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. 

Sary is Also interested in improvised and traditional music ,he's a permanent member of the Al-Mayadine Ensemble of the very Well known Marcel Khalife.