Rafael Menges got his first Cello lessons at the age of 4 at the Peter-Cornelius-Konservatorium in Mainz, Germany, studying with Ulrike Schaeffer. From 2013-2015 he was junior student at the Musikhochschule Mainz in the class of Daniel Geiss. From 2015-2018 he graduated his Bachelor studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg studying with Prof. Sebastian Klinger. Right now, Rafael is studying his Master of Music at the Musikhochschule Lübeck with Prof. Troels Svane.
Furthermore, he completed his studies at the ‚Internationale Cello Akademie Rutesheim‘ where he participated in masterclasses by Prof. Laszlo Fenyö, Prof. Wen-Sinn Yang and Prof. Sebastian Klinger. He expanded his musical and cellist education at several festivals and masterclasses given by Prof. Danjulo Ishizaka, Prof. Sung-Won Yang, Prof. Wolfgang Böttcher, Prof. Maria Kliegel and Prof. David Geringas.
From 2006-2010 Rafael got promoted by the Fritz-Straub Foundation and in 2013 he was a scholarship holder of the ‚Jeunes Virtuoses de New York‘. Furthermore, the young cellist collected experiences at the ‚Internationale Orchesterakademie Bayreuth‘ and as a member of several ensembles such as the ‚Mainzer Virtuosi‘. In 2013 Rafael was awarded 1st prize at the federal stage at the ‚Jugend Musiziert‘ cello competition. In 2017 he got scholarship holder of the Live Music Now Hamburg Foundation and in 2018 he won the main scholarship of the ‚Zukunftsinitiative Rheinland-Pfalz‘.
