Born in Camaguey (Cuba) in 1956, he studied with Cesar Perez Sentenar, Barbara Diaz Alea, Margot Rojas and Alfredo Diez at National School of Arts.

On graduation, he was awarded a scholarship to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow where he studied with Rudolf Kerer. He continued his studies at Conservatoire de Paris with Magda Tagliaferro, and later at the Hochschüle für Müsik und Künstler in Vienna with Paul Badura Skoda. He also received masterclasses from Witold Malcuzcynski in Warsaw.

At 21 years old, Jorge Luis Prats won the first prize at the prestigious Concours Marguerite Long – Jacques Thibaud in Paris as well as the special award of best interpretation of works by Ravel and Jolivet. Other awards include the Gold Medal at the Katia Popova Festival in Bulgaria and the First Prize at the Amadeo Roldán Piano Competition in Havana, Cuba.

He has received Cuba’s highest honours, which are awarded to national and international personalities in the field of art and culture: the Alejo Carpentier Medal and the Félix Varela Medal.

Jorge Luis Prats has been invited as a jury member or chairman of numerous international competitions, including the Iberian-American Piano Competition in Havana, the Santander International Piano Competition, the Hilton Head Competition in South Carolina, the Jaen International Piano Competition and the Paul Badura-Skoda Competition. Jorge Luis is regularly invited as professor by respected institutions, including the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the National University of Colombia in Bogota, the National School of the Arts in Havana, the Arts Centre in Mexico, and the Conservatory of Cordoba in Spain. From 1985 to 2002, he was the Artistic Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, with which he made several tours in Spain and Latin America.

During the fist three decades of his carreer Prats has toured Europe, Latin America, China, Japan and Korea and has played with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony etc. In Mexico, he has performed with the Mexico City Orchestra, the Ofunam Orchestra and the Jalapa Orchestra and in South America with the Columbia Philharmonic, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and Caracas Municipal Orchestra.

Jorge Luis Prats has recorded for numerous major labels: Pathé Marconi (EMI France), Deutsche Grammophone (Germany), ASV, IMP (UK), Musical Heritage (USA). His discography includes the first ever recording of the 24 Preludes and The Satanic Poem by Scriabin for Pathé Marconi (EMI France), the complete works for piano and orchestra by Rachmaninov, and the Chopin, Grieg and Shostakovitch Piano Concertos, as well as works by Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel and a considerable roster of Cuban music. His February 27, 2007 concert at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts under the auspices of the Miami International Piano Festival was recorded and this live performance has recently been released on a DVD by VAI (Video Artists International).

His extensive repertoire includes most of the major works for piano and orchestra. His immense recital repertoire includes works of Bach (Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Suites and Partitas), all of Mozart’s sonatas and a large number of the Beethoven sonatas, almost all of Chopin’s works and Franz Liszt’s Sonatas and Etudes and the Hungarian Rhapsodies. It also includes Ravel, Debussy, Villa-Lobos and the entire Cuban inventory of classical music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, including the dances and contradances of Manuel Samuell and Ignacio Cervantes, along with all the piano compositions of Ernesto Lecuona. He has also mastered the major compositions of contemporary Cuban composers, such as Carlos Fariñas and Harold Gramatges.

In November 2008, Prats made his overwhelming debut in the Master Pianists series at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He successfully returned there many times in subsequent years.

He performed at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland and at numerous other important festivals in France, such as La Roque d’Anthéron.