John Ness Beck, 1930-1987
John Ness Beck, co-founder of Beckenhorst Press , established the John Ness Beck Foundation in 1987, only a few months before he passed away from cancer. The Foundation was established in memory of Randall Thompson and Joseph Clokey and is tax exempt. It recognizes outstanding achievement in choral composition and arrangement of traditional church music, enhances and furthers the careers, study, education and experience of promising composers and arrangers, and promotes and stimulates the learning of choral
John Beck’s desire was simple: to encourage and promote the writing of traditional sacred music. The Foundation has sought to honor this goal in several ways. For several years, scholarships were awarded to students from the Westminster Choir College and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who exhibited promise in the writing of sacred choral music. Additionally, the Foundation has regularly awarded cash prizes to composers of traditional sacred choral music which exemplifies the type of writing that