Violin

Rafael started playing in elementary school after being inspired by a classmate’s violin playing during a Show & Tell. He asked his parents if he could start playing the violin and has been playing ever since. He graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School in 1987 and won an Honorable Mention from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts in 1986-1987. He has also taken theory and ear training classes at UMass, Boston.

Rafael joined Tunefoolery in 2008 and has performed at many of our coffee houses and is doing regular gigs as part of a duo with our accordion player Eugene.

The Russian Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev is Rafael’s favorite composer and David Oistrakh is a violinist whose playing is a great inspiration for Rafael.