Atarah Ben-Tovim, MBE (1 October 1940 – 20 October 2022) was a British

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and children's concert presenter.

Biography

Ben-Tovim was born in Abergavenny, Wales, the daughter of Harry Ben-Tovim, a doctor, and his wife Gladys Rachel (née Carengold). Her early years were spent in Ealing, London. Ben-Tovim played her first television concert live at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, at the age of fourteen. She was principal flautist with the National Youth Orchestra, and then from 1963 to 1975 principal flautist with the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

. She left the RLPO to found Atarah's Band in 1975, a group which sought to improve children's experiences with classical music. Ben-Tovim guested on several British television and radio shows, including ''

Pebble Mill at One ''Pebble Mill at One'' is a British television magazine programme that was broadcast live on weekdays at one o'clock on BBC1, from 2 October 1972 to 23 May 1986, and again from 14 October 1991 to 29 March 1996. It was transmitted from the Peb ...

'' on

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

, ''The

John Dunn John, Jack, Johnny, Jon, or Jonathan Dunn may refer to: Entertainment *John Dunn (pipemaker) (c. 1764–1820), inventor of keyed Northumbrian smallpipes *John Dunn (actor) born O'Donoghue (1813–1875), Australian comic actor *John Millard Dunn (1 ...

Show'', ''

Start the Week ''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular ...

'' and ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

''. In the late 1980s, BBC Radio Three made the programme ''Atarah's Music Box'', all about children and music. '' Omnibus'' devoted a programme to her work, as did ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' and ''

Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is on ...

''. Her own television series, ''Atarah's Music'', aimed at primary school children, aired on ITV in 1984, and the following year she presented five episodes of the long-running ITV Schools series ''Seeing and Doing'', teaching children about basic musical theory and the differences between various instruments. Together with her husband, Douglas Boyd, she published ''The Right Instrument for Your Child'' followed by ''You Can Make Music!''. Both books concentrated on helping aspiring music students to choose the best instrument for their particular attributes. Ben-Tovim and Boyd undertook research with thousands of students over a period of ten years in which they followed the successes and failures of these students and examined the relationship between their physical, emotional and intellectual attributes and the instruments which they chose. Ben-Tovim's musical stories for little children in '' Rub-a-Dub-Tub'' on Sunday mornings ran for over two years. Her radio series have been broadcast on several local independent radio stations including Birmingham's

BRMB Free Radio Birmingham is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Birmingham and the West Midlands (region), West Midlands. As o ...

, Liverpool's Radio City and Radio Merseyside, Manchester's Radio Piccadilly, and Preston's

Red Rose Radio Red Rose Radio was the first UK Independent Local Radio station to be licensed for Lancashire by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). Although a company of that name was incorporated in 1978 (as Red Rose Radio Limited), the licence was aw ...

Awards and recognition

Ben-Tovim was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the

1980 New Year Honours The 1980 New Year Honours were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1979 to cele ...

for services to children's music. During its lifetime, the band played to over three million people.

Personal life and death

In later years Ben-Tovim resided in France, where she taught and held workshops for budding flautists and clarinettists. Ben-Tovim died from cancer on 20 October 2022, at the age of 82.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Tovim, Atarah 1940 births 2022 deaths British flautists Jewish British musicians Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British women musicians People from Abergavenny 20th-century flautists