Rafael Skorka

Third Prize winner of the 1st International Music Competition Harbin China (2018), Rafael Skorka began learning the piano at the age of 8 with Mrs. Svetlana Pachter at the Karmiel Music Conservatory in Israel. Skorka holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Jerusalem Academy of Music, where he studied with Prof. Asaf Zohar, and both a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), studying in the studio of Sergei Babayan. In 2018, upon graduating from CIM, Skorka won the Sergei Babayan Prize in Piano in recognition of his outstanding artistic achievements. Skorka has appeared as soloist with many orchestras in Israel, including the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, the Tel-Aviv Soloists Ensemble, the Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva and the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra. He also has taken part in several prestigious music festivals, including the Steans Music Institute Program for Piano and Strings at the Ravinia Festival (2009, 2011) and the Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland (2012). Skorka has won a number of competitions in Israel, including First Prize in the “Piano Forever” Competition in Ashdod (2009) and the Second Prize in the Voice of Music Young Artists Competition (2008). More recently, he received a special grant for outstanding performance in piano at the 2018 Aviv Competitions in Tel-Aviv. Between the years 2003-2014, Skorka was also granted several scholarships by the America- Israel Cultural Foundation.