Music

Dima Khierbeck-Auner is a violinist, pianist, composer and arranger. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance in violin and piano from the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus (2015).

For more than ten years she played with the leading orchestras of Damascus: the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra under Missak Baghboudarian, the Mari Women's Symphony Orchestra, the first women's symphony orchestra in the Middle East, as assistant concertmaster under Raad Khalaf, the Syrian National Orchestra of Arabic Music under Adnan Fathallah, the Orpheus Orchestra under Andre Al Maalouli, and the Damascus Baroque Soloists, with whom she performed historically informed repertoire, including as soloist at the 4th Baroque Music Festival at the Damascus Opera House.

International engagements have taken her to Expo 2020 Dubai with the Syrian Rhapsody Orchestra under Iyad Rimawi, to the Winter Theatre in Sochi under Yuri Bashmet, to the Jerash Festival in Jordan, to the International Festival of Symphonic Music in Algeria, to the Kuwait Opera House with the singer Abeer Nehme, to the official opening of Baghdad Day as concertmaster of the Mari Orchestra, and to Italy with the Orchestra Giovanile Internazionale. In 2024 she appeared as guest violinist with the Wiener Hofburg Orchestra on tour in Croatia and with the Camerata Mozartiana at the Chopin Festival in Gaming, Austria.

She has worked with singers and instrumentalists of the Arab world including Marwan Mahfouz, Ghassan Saliba, Ghassan Rahbani, Hany Shaker, Mayada Bselis, Taher Mamelli, Samir Kouefati, Hussein Nazek, Linda Bittar, Moein Shref, Carla Ramia and Safwan Bahlawan, and with international artists including Guy Manoukian and Walter Ríos.

In Damascus she performed regularly with the composer Iyad Rimawi, among them a filmed concert at the Hijaz railway station directed by Zbigniew Rybczynski.

From 2016 to 2024 she taught ear training (solfège) and violin at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, and music at the dance department of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts.

She now plays with the Wiener Residenzorchester and in chamber and Baroque ensembles, and works as an arranger. Her arrangements are published by Universal Edition. She is preparing the Violin Concerto No. 2 and the string quartets of Mary Dickenson-Auner for performance by the Auner Quartett at the Wiener Musikverein in the 2026/27 season, and a version of songs for baritone and string quartet for a concert with Thomas Hampson in the Brahms Hall in March 2027.