Composer Gilad Ben-Shah dies at age 85 — Jerusalem Post

Gilad Ben-Shah, a composer, music editor and longtime employee of Kol Yisrael, has died in Israel at the age of 85. He was one of the founders of the Reshet Gimel radio station and later became its manager, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Work in radio

Ben-Shah joined Kol Yisrael in the late 1960s. At the Israel Broadcasting Authority, he worked as a music editor, headed the entertainment programs department and managed Reshet Gimel.

For decades, Ben-Shah was one of the influential figures behind the scenes of Israeli radio and music. He helped shape the station's musical sound at a time when radio had a significant influence on the audience's musical tastes and the popularity of songs and performers.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Programs and songs

One of the decisions associated with Ben-Shah was the creation of the program “Mediterranean Basin.” In the late 1970s, he tasked young editor Shimon Parnass, who specialized in rock and pop music, with preparing a program dedicated to Mediterranean music.

The program aired on Reshet Gimel for years and later became one of the important platforms for the genre, which at the time was still trying to gain a place in the Israeli mainstream.

Ben-Shah also wrote music and song lyrics. Among the compositions associated with him are Every Person Has a Star, performed by Ilan and Ilanit, as well as Violets. He was involved in organizing concerts and events dedicated to Hebrew-language song, including performances as part of the festival in Ein Gev. Ben-Shah's family said that his world was Hebrew-language music, its preservation and development.