Jury 2024

The jury includes internationally recognized pianists, experts, and music teachers. The jury’s decision cannot be subjected to revision.

Prof’ Dina Yoffe

Chairman of the Jury

Renowned pianist with remarkable solo and orchestral career, Professor Dina Yoffe has served as a jury member for several acclaimed international piano competitions, including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the Cleveland International Piano Competition in the USA, the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel, the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, the Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona, and the Liszt Competition in Weimar, among others.

Professor Yoffe's dedication to musical education resonates on a global scale, exemplified through her impactful masterclasses in France, Germany, Spain, London (Royal Academy of Music), and Salzburg (Mozarteum Summer Academy). Furthermore, she holds the position of a guest professor at the esteemed Yamaha Masterclasses in Paris, New York, Hamburg, and Tokyo.

Massimiliano Ferrati

Massimiliano Ferrati is one of the most impressive Italian musicians of his generation, renowned for his extraordinary musicality, technical strength, and charismatic performances.

He is a prize winner in many prestigious international competitions, including being the Grand Prix Winner at the “Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition” in Monza and winning the Bronze Medal at the “Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition” in Tel Aviv, among others.

Massimiliano regularly gives masterclasses both in Italy and abroad, participating in events such as the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes, the New York International Keyboard Institute and Festival, the Kiev Ciaikovskij National Academy, and the Tokyo Showa University, as well as the Poros Piano Academy. Additionally, he serves on juries for international piano competitions such as the Sidney International Piano Competition, the A. Casagrande International Piano Competition in Terni, the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Monza, the Luciano Luciani International Piano Competition in Cosenza, and the IKIF New York. Currently, he holds the position of Piano Professor at the Conservatory “E. F. Dall’Abaco” in Verona.

Yanina Kudlik

Yanina Kudlik is a Head of Akadma Conservatory in Ashdod. She is a founder and art director of national piano competition “Piano forever “. Editor of classic music program at the Ashdod Performance Art Center and artistic director of the "Viva -la Piano" series at the Monart Art Center . Yanina Kudlik is a member of the society and judges coordinator of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Tel Aviv.

Prof’ Tomer Lev

Tomer Lev enjoys an intensive career of unusual diversity as concert pianist, lecturer and pedagogue. At the age of 37, he was appointed as head of the Israel Academy of Music at the Tel-Aviv University. Soon thereafter, Prof. Lev was among the founders of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music – a joint institute of Tel-Aviv University and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra – and was appointed as its first director (2004-2009).

Tomer Lev collaborated with all major Israeli orchestras. His critically acclaimed debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta led to further collaborations with the IPO (including projects with Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Jerzy Semkov, Yoel Levi and others), as well as to performances with the Jerusalem Symphony - Israeli Radio Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Israeli Camerata, the Israeli Sinfonietta, and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra among others. Tomer Lev was a member of the "Israel Piano Trio", one of Israel's leading chamber ensembles of international acclaim, and toured Europe & South America with this distinguished ensemble.

Ariel Cohen

Ariel Cohen is the Artistic Director of the Arthur Rubinstein International Society and competition. Mr. Cohen is a former Director of the Rishon-LeZion Symphonic Orchestra, pianist and Hi-tech professional. Together with Israeli pianist Irit Rub he founded the "Tel Aviv Duo" and together they performed in many concerts including in the world premiere performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles.

The jury of the Competition has the right:

to divide the prizes between the participants
to establish special prizes for the best performance of
- the piece composed by Israeli composer
- the best performance
- the etude and the best performance of the piece by featured composer

Jury of past competitions

Over the last editions of the competition, we have had the distinct privilege of hosting renowned pianists and esteemed pedagogues as our jury members. These distinguished individuals brought not only their exceptional musical expertise but also a wealth of experience and insight to the evaluation process. Their commitment to nurturing emerging talents and their discerning judgment contributed significantly to the success and prestige of the Scherzo International Piano Competition.

István I. Székely

Concert pianist and pedagogue. Professor at the Katarina Gurska Superior Conservatory in Madrid and Franz Liszt Center for special talents in La Nucia (Spain).

Milan Franěk

The president of European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) for Czech Republic,

Artistic Director of the Ant. Petrof International Piano Competition.

Dr. Maria Pukhlyanko

Laureate of international piano competitions, an art-director of the International Festival “Dynasty”. A. Professor at the P.I.Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine.

Prof' Asaf Zohar

Asaf Zohar teaches as a Professor of Piano at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel-Aviv University, where he is the Chairman of the Piano Department.

Yi-An Xu

Conductor and a faculty member of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University, serving as a lecturer for Orchestra Conducting.

Amir Fedorovich

Educator and teacher, Amir holds a Master’s degree from Israeli Academy of music in Tel-Aviv. Regularly serves as a judge at the National Israeli piano competition.