jeremy beck is an american composer who knows the importance of embracing the past while also going his own way the critic mark sebastian jordan has said that beck was committed to tonality and a recognizable musical vernacular long before that became the hip bandwagon it is today indeed he is an original voice celebrating musicbecks most recent opera review with a libretto by patricia marx was one of three finalists in the 2010 national opera associations new chamber opera competition it was performed by oberlin opera theater in february 2014 and twice by peabody opera in october 2011 in baltimore and in richmond virginia at the college music societys annual convention review was previously included in the 2009 opera america and houston grand opera new works sampler following that successful showcase review was then produced by the moores opera center at the university of houston and later was given its new york premiere by the center for contemporary operabeck has released five cds of his music on the innova label the critic donald rosenberg describes the music on becks most recent cd string quartets 2013 as forceful and expressive concise in structure and generous in tonal language savouring both the dramatic and the poetic while joshua kosman of the san francisco chronicle states becks music is appealing and skillfully crafted with lush tonal harmonies kosman further observes that novelty isnt the only thing music can provide and the moody expressiveness of becks writing is its own rewardbecks 2011 cd ionsound project features the ensembleinresidence at the university of pittsburgh his music on this recording has been described as uplifting buoyant and emotional and sensitive to both the performer and the listener in addition critic andrew sigler finds becks music rhythmically intricate and makes nods to the past while sitting squarely in the present though architecturally rigorous beck writes clearly and without pretensebecks third innova cd never final never gone 2008 features a variety of chamber and vocal music his second cd pause and feel and hark released in may 2006 includes black water a monodrama based on the novel by joyce carol oates black water received its australian premiere at the 2012 adelaide fringe festival in 2004 wave a slovak radio symphony orchestra cd devoted to becks music was releasedbecks opera the biddle boys and mrs soffel was named by the pittsburgh postgazette as one of the top ten cultural events in pittsburgh for the year 2001beck has earned awards grants and honors from the american composers orchestra california arts council the los angeles chapter of the american composers forum kentucky arts council millay colony for the arts wellesley composers conference oregon bach festival and the iowa arts councilhe holds degrees from the yale school of music duke university and the mannes college of music where his principal teachers included jacob druckman martin bresnick stephen jaffe and david loebbeck currently resides in louisville kentucky where he is a practicing attorney he blends his music background into his law practice with an emphasis on copyright and contracts