From humming Billy Joel in the back seat of his family car during
childhood road trips to performing on stages across Italy, music has
stretched across the length and breadth of Ben Tatar’s life. A devoted
music educator, composer and performer, Ben’s expertise ranges from
early childhood music education to a professional performance résumé that includes both jazz and classical music.
A multi-instrumentalist (among them, trombone, tuba, piano, guitar, bass,
and vocals), Ben Tatar has shared the stage with such notables as Maria
Schneider, Slide Hampton, Ben Vereen, Arturo Sandoval, Dave
Liebman, Bob Newhart, Phil Woods, and the Kansas City Symphony
Orchestra. Ben has performed at local Chicago venues including
Gallagher Way at Wrigley Field, Joliet’s Rialto Square Theater, Grant
Park’s Harris Theater, City Winery, Martyrs’, Schuba’s, Millennium Park,
The Music Box Theater, The Double Door, and The Green Mill Lounge.
He has participated in Chicago’s Andersonville Midsommarfest,
Milwaukee’s Third Ward Summer Sizzle, and Italy’s Umbria Jazz
Festival. He regularly plays trombone throughout the Chicago area in
several jazz and Top ’40s wedding bands.
Ben is in his 18th year of teaching elementary school general music to
grades 1–5 in School District 96 in Long Grove, Illinois. His experience
ranges from Wiggleworms classes for children ages 0–2 at Chicago’s
Old Town School of Folk Music (since 2015) to serving as music
director/emcee for a Chicago-based dance troupe. He frequently
partners with such organizations as the Chicago JCC, JUF, Bump Club
and Beyond, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and Chicago’s East Bank
Club.
In 2014, Ben launched his kids’ rock band, Ben Tatar and the Tatar Tots,
releasing his first album, Food! that same year. The Tots maintain a busy
schedule performing at Chicago area parks, street fests, and private
events. Their shows are driven by crowd engagement, humor, and
‘something for every listener.’
Ben holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the
University of Kansas and a Master of Jazz Studies degree from DePaul
University. He lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with his wife
and their two children.