Jonathan Cohen is a British

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

.Ruth Inglis ''The window in the corner: a half-century of children's television'' - 2003 - Page 51 "Jonathan did the accompaniments for ''Jackanory'', in which a personality, usually a West End star, read a story to the children. ... Jonathan Cohen says that everyone on ''Play School'' had a cut-glass educated accent and used 'received English." He is known for his work on many BBC children's programmes from the 1960s to the 1990s, including '' Play School'', ''Playbus'' (latterly ''

Playdays ''Playdays'' (known as ''Playbus'' until December 1989) is a British pre-school television programme which ran from 1988 to 1997 on CBBC. The show was the successor to '' Play School'' and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational p ...

''), ''

Play Away ''Play Away'' is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series '' Play School'', it was aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2.Alist ...

'', ''

Rentaghost ''Rentaghost'' is a British children's television comedy show, originally broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which ...

'' and ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fairy-t ...

''. He appeared as a pianist on programmes such as ''Play Away'' and also presented some of the musical items. In the latter part of his career, he became heavily involved with programmes for

BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based o ...

co-presenting ''

Music Time "Music Time" is the sole studio track released on the live Styx album, '' Caught in the Act''. It peaked at #40 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart the week of June 2, 1984. When the concert was released on DVD, the video for this song was ...

'' with Helen Speirs. This was a popular, long-running series aimed at primary school children that focused on teaching singing and instrumentation. First broadcast in 1970, it was presented by Cohen from 1983 until the final series in 1991. He also had prominent roles on several other BBC Schools series aimed at older Junior children, notably the award-winning series ''The Music Arcade'' (1979-1986), and ''Into Music''. In 2005, he staged a theatre production called ''Still Playing Away'' alongside former ''Play Away'' presenter

Brian Cant Brian Cant (12 July 1933 – 19 June 2017) was an English actor of stage, television and film, television presenter, voice artist and writer. He was best known for his work in BBC television programmes for children from 1964 onward, most notably ...

, which was a trip down memory lane of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He leads the annual ''Christmas Carol Singalong'' at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, London

Birmingham Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

and

Bridgewater Hall The Bridgewater Hall is a concert venue in Manchester city centre, England. It cost around £42 million to build in the 1990s, and hosts over 250 performances a year. It is home to the 165-year-old Hallé Orchestra as well as to the Hallé ...

, Manchester, using his own arrangements of traditional Christmas songs and carols.

Selected discography

* 1973 - ''Play Away''. BBC Records (RBT 19) * 1975 - ''"}Hey You!" - Songs from The BBC TV Series "Play Away"''. BBC Records and Tapes (REC 209) * 1981 - ''Hello! - Songs from BBC TV's "Play School" and "Play Away"''. BBC Records (REC 425) * 1984 - ''Singing In The Band - Songs from BBC TV's "Play School" and "Play Away"''. BBC Records (REC 495) * 1986 - ''

Elisabeth Welch Elisabeth Margaret Welch (February 27, 1904July 15, 2003) was an American singer, actress, and entertainer, whose career spanned seven decades. Her best-known songs were " Stormy Weather", " Love for Sale" and "Far Away in Shanty Town". She was ...

in Concert''. First Night Records (OCR CD6016)

Music for television

* ''

'' * ''

'' * '' Galloping Galaxies!'' * ''

'' * ''

Greenclaws ''Greenclaws'' is a children's television series aired on the BBC between 3 January 1989 and 6 February 1990. It starred Nick Mercer and Stella Goodier, was written by Ursula Jones, directed by Adrian Mills, and produced by Christine Hewitt. Co ...

'' * ''

Uncle Jack ''Uncle Jack'' was a children's TV show which aired on BBC1 in the early 1990s. The plot centres around Jack Green, an environmentalist and undercover agent for MI5, who with his family are on a mission to save the planet. Jack's archenemy ...

'' * ''

Come Outside ''Come Outside'' is a British educational children's television series that ran from 23 September 1993 to 18 March 1997, presented by and starring Lynda Baron as Auntie Mabel and her dog 'Pippin'. It remains one of the BBC's most successful an ...

'' * '' Living Within The Seasons'' (Alongside Peter Hodges) * '' Step Inside'' * '' Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams'' * '' Monster Café'' (series 2) * ''

Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde ''Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde'' was a British children's television series which aired on BBC One (via Children's BBC and later CBBC) in the UK for 53 episodes between 1995 and 1998. The programme was a comedy with its premise being loosely ba ...

References

External links

*
"Brian goes back to playschool"
Bucks Free Press, 9 November 2005 (viewed 12 July 2009)

BBC - The Look of Love {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jonathan British television presenters British male pianists British composers 21st-century pianists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British male musicians