Ariel Cohen, Artistic Director of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition was a board member of the competition for twenty years and Chair of the board for ten years. 

Cohen was the General Director of Israel Symphony Orchestra (Israel Opera Orchestra) from 2013 to 2018.

He began piano studies at the age of six. Graduated from the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University where he studied piano with Arie Vardi. At age 18 he played with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, and Haifa Symphony. He established the Tel Aviv Duo with pianist Irit Rub and had the honor to play the debut performances of Leonard Bernstein’s ‹Arias and Barcarolles› in Tel-Aviv and in London in the late Maestro’s presence. 

Cohen was also a music critic in leading Israeli journals, producer, editor and presenter of radio programs, producer of concerts in the Israel Festival, and Jury member in competitions such as Vendome, Ashdod, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Piano competition, the Tel Aviv Buchmann-Mehta School of Music competition and others. 

Cohen is a board member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC).