Shony Alex Braun

My Heart is a Violin: Renowned Violinist / Composer and Holocaust Survivor Shony Alex Braun

Shony Alex Braun first encountered the enchanting spell of the violin as a frightened four-year-old child, lost in the dark forests of Transylvania (Hungary-Romania). Rescued by gypsies and taken to their camp, little Shony was comforted and fascinated by the "box that makes music." Six years later, he debuted on Radio Bucharest as a child prodigy violinist. Shony began composing music at the age of eleven. Two years later, he received a scholarship from the Budapest Academy of Music. His musical studies, however, were cut short when he was transported along with the rest of his family, to the concentration camp at Auschwitz and, later, Dachau. Throughout the Nazi nightmare, the violin continued to comfort Shony and, on one occasion, literally saved his life. The day before Dachau was liberated by the Allies, Shony was shot in the chest and left for dead. But he survived and his music endured. After liberation, Shony continued his music studies and graduated from the world-famous Mozarteum Academy of Music in Salzburg, Austria. He and his wife Shari, also a Holocaust survivor, immigrated to the United States, where he studied violin with Professor Josef Gingold at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Music.