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Ayal Rafiah, percussionist, was born in Israel to a musical family; his mother taught piano and Ayal describes his father as having a “high musical IQ.” He began piano studies at the age of eight and started playing percussion four years later, performing with amateur orchestras when the opportunity presented itself.

Ayal has a bachelor’s from Tel Aviv University, where he studied with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra principals Gideon Steiner and Alon Bor. He the orchestra in October 1984.
As a percussionist, Ayal is proficient on a long list of instruments, some of them quite exotic: the bass drum, tambourine, cymbals, castanets, tam-tam (un-tuned gong), xylophone, glockenspiel, tom-tom, and many others.