Gil Shohat was born in Israel in 1973. He began his musical studies at the age of 7, and by 12 was composing and performing his own piano pieces. Shohat’s first orchestral composition – a cantata, The Nightingale and the Rose – was commissioned by the Israel Chamber Orchestra when he was just 18. He is a graduate of the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv (1984-1990). He received his first and second degrees (BM, MM) from the Mehta-Buchman School of Music at Tel Aviv University (1991-1995) and holds two post-graduate diplomas (piano and composition) from the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome (1995-1997). He pursued advanced studies with Prof. Alexander Goehr of Cambridge University in England (1997-1998). All of his degrees were awarded summa cum laude. Most of Shohat’s compositions are published by the CASA RICORDI Editions, which he joined at the age of 23 – the youngest composer in the company’s history. His composition teachers included Andre Hadju in Israel and Azio Corghi, Ivan Vandor, and Luciano Berio in Italy. His piano teachers were Rachel Feinstein and Arie Vardi in Israel, Sergio Perticaroli in Italy, and Maria Curcio in England. His conducting teachers were Stanley Sperber and John Nelson.

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Gil Shohat has won many prizes and accolades, including the Israel Conservatory Prize (1989), Rubin Israel Music Academy Prize (1993), the Italian Government Grant for Advanced Studies (1995-1996), and the British Council Award (1997). He has been awarded grants by the American-Israel Cultural Foundation (1990-1998), the Bracha Foundation (2001), the Rich Foundation (2001, 2005, 2007), and the Rabinovich Tel Aviv Foundation for the Arts (2001-2007). He received first prize for composition from the Arthur Rubinstein International Society, his work becoming the obligatory piano piece for contestants in the International Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition (1998). He is a laureate of Israel’s Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation (2001). He received the Tel Aviv Prize for the Performing Arts – Rosenblum Prize (2002) and the Israel Theater Prizes for “the most significant event of the year” for his opera Alpha and Omega (2002), as well composer of the year (2004). He won the Prime Minister’s Prize for composition (2003). He has received a prize and a commission from the Zfunot Tarbut Foundation for the Promotion of Art and Artists in Israel in 2006-2007. His sponsors include the Safra Group in Switzerland, Motorola Israel, Mr. Murray Pepper (Los Angeles), Mrs. Susan Rose (New York City), and the prestigious Soli Deo Gloria Foundation in Chicago. Gil Shohat is a chosen artist of Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation (IcExcellence) since 2004.