Staff

President and General Manager    Philip Eoute
Vice President of Publications and Editor   Dan Forrest
Warehouse Manager    Bob Roth
Office Manager    Lorna Jansheski
Licensing Administrator/Executive Secretary  Stephanie Stephens

Editor Emeritus    Craig Courtney
Handbell Editor    William H. Griffin
Handbell Editor    Mitchell Eithun
Organ Editor     Marianne Kim
Concert Series Co-Editor  Jamie Hillman
Congregational Anthem Series Advisor  Erik Dewar

 

Dan Forrest, Vice President of Publications and Editor

Dr. Dan Forrest (b. 1978) has been described as having “an undoubted gift for writing beautiful music….that is truly magical” (NY Concert Review), with works hailed as “magnificent, very cleverly constructed sound sculpture” (Classical Voice), and  “superb writing…full of spine-tingling moments” (Salt Lake Tribune). Dan’s music spans a wide spectrum of genres and difficulty, ranging from extended major works for chorus and orchestra and significant concert choral repertoire to more accessible works for church and community choirs, as well as instrumental works ranging from wind ensemble pieces to solo instrumental sonatas.

Dr. Forrest’s work has become well established in the choral repertoire in the U.S. and around the world, and has received numerous awards and distinctions including the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award, the ACDA Raymond Brock Award, the ALCM Raabe Prize, and many others. His choral works have been recorded by professional choirs including Seraphic Fire and VOCES8, have been featured on the BBC Proms series and numerous national US radio and TV broadcasts, and are regularly performed in Carnegie Hall choral festivals and other prominent international venues. His major works Requiem for the Living (2013) and Jubilate Deo (2016) have quickly become standard choral/orchestral repertoire for ensembles around the world, and his LUX: The Dawn From On High(2018) is now gathering similar critical acclaim. His most recent major work, the breath of life, was premiered by the Bel Canto Company and is newly in print, summer 2020. 

Dan is highly active in the music publishing industry, currently publishing his concert choral music through his own company, The Music of Dan Forrest (distributed by Beckenhorst Press), and his church choral anthems with Beckenhorst Press. He also maintains a sizable presence in the Hinshaw Music catalog, and has published with a dozen other publishers. Dr. Forrest spends significant time mentoring and supporting other composers through his position as chair of the national ACDA Composition Initiatives Committee, his ongoing oversight and teaching with the annual John Ness Beck Foundation Choral Composer’s Workshop and Scholarships, and his intensive editing work at Beckenhorst. He adjudicates regional and national composition contests, and keeps a full schedule of commissions, workshops, recordings, and residencies with universities, churches, community and professional ensembles, collaborating as accompanist, presenting his music, and teaching composition and music theory. Dan also serves as Artist-in-Residence at his home church, Mitchell Road Presbyterian (PCA) in Greenville, SC. 

Dan holds a doctorate in composition from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in piano performance, and is a Fellow of Melodious Accord. His academic background includes several years as a professor and department head (music theory and composition) in higher education. Dan professes lifelong gratitude to the teachers that shaped his musicality: James Barnes (doctoral advisor), Alice Parker (multiple fellowships with Melodious Accord), Joan Pinkston and the late Dwight Gustafson (college composition teachers), Frances McLaren and the late Joanne Snyder (childhood piano and music teachers). 

More information about Dan and his work can be found at www.danforrest.com.

 

Craig Courtney, Music Co-editor (Retired, Spring 2024)

A native of Indiana, Craig Courtney began playing the piano at the age of three and the cello at the age of eleven. He received a Bachelors and a Masters degree in piano performance at the University of Cincinnati, studying piano under Raymond Dudley and chamber music under Walter Levin of the LaSalle Quartet. During that time, he was a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Honorary Music Society.

Following a three-year stay in Milan, Italy, where Mr. Courtney studied the piano with Illonka Deckers, performed for the Associazione Musicale "Gustav Mahler", and worked extensively as a vocal coach, he was invited to join the music faculty of the famed Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, serving as piano teacher and accompanist for the woodwind and brass department.

It was during this six-year period, while serving in the music ministry of the Salzburg International Baptist Church, that Mr. Courtney began directing a church choir and composing sacred choral music, due to the unavailability of English language music. In 1985, his compositions came to the attention of John Ness Beck, through the publication of his octavo, Thy Will Be Done, initiating a close working relationship between the two men which continued until Mr. Beck's death in 1987. In making plans for the ongoing of Beckenhorst Press, Mr. Beck appointed Craig Courtney to assume his responsibilities as staff composer and editor.

At this point in time, Mr. Courtney's published works include more than two hundred choral octavos, nine vocal collections, a piano solo collection and six extended works for choir and orchestra. Compositionally, Mr. Courtney combines his training and background as a pianist, a cellist, a vocal coach, an accompanist and a choral director to create words that bear his unique style. He has been a frequent recipient of ASCAP achievement awards and his composition, Peace I Give to You, was awarded 1st place in the 2003 John Ness Beck Foundation competition.

In demand throughout the country as a choral clinician and featured composer, Craig Courtney resides in Columbus, OH. 

 

Jamie Hillman, Co-Editor, Beckenhorst Press Concert Series

Dr. Jamie Hillman is an American and Canadian musician, active as a conductor, singer, pianist, and music educator. He holds the endowed Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting at the University of Toronto where he is Director of Choral Studies and an Associate Professor. He conducts the U of T MacMillan Singers and leads the master's and doctoral degree programs in Choral Conducting, as well as the annual summer Choral Conducting Symposium. He is also cross listed as an adjunct faculty member in Emmanuel College's Master of Sacred Music program, and serves as Associate Conductor and Director of Community Engagement of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Hillman has served on the faculties of Boston University Metropolitan College/Prison Education Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Kodály Music Institute, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Toronto Summer Music. As a Boston University Prison Arts Scholar, Hillman co-initiated an innovative vocal music program in the Massachusetts prison system. ​He is an examiner for Conservatory Canada and has adjudicated, guest conducted, performed, and presented throughout the US and around the world.

Dr. Hillman earned an associate diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and degrees from Western University (London, Canada), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Boston University where he studied with Ann Howard Jones.

 

Mitchell Eithun, Handbell Editor

Mitchell Eithun is a handbell musician, composer and director, with over seventy published compositions. He is passionate about developing innovative handbell rehearsal techniques and sharing historical and theological perspectives on church music. As the founding director of Bell Durham, a community handbell ensemble in Durham, NC, Mitchell develops creative handbell concerts for new audiences.

He holds a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School (Durham, NC), an M.S. in Computational Mathematics from Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), and a B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science, with a minor in Music, from Ripon College (Ripon, WI). Mitchell's experience includes serving as a carillonneur and intern at Duke University Chapel and as handbell director at First Presbyterian Church of Holt, MI. He is an associate member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and a member of Handbell Musicians of America. Outside of music, Mitchell enjoys learning the carillon and traveling to new destinations.

 

Bill Griffin, Handbell Editor

William H. Griffin received degrees from The Ohio State University and has had additional training at the Westminster Choir College and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

Bill is a “retired” teacher who taught choral music for thirty-one years and established successful handbell programs in two Columbus (Ohio) high schools. He has directed handbell programs at OSU, several Methodist Churches in the Columbus area, and was an adjunct staff member at the Lutheran Theological Seminary. His handbell choirs were internationally recognized through recordings and performances in the U.S., Korea, Japan and Canada. He was also the Director of the Symphonic Handbells of Columbus, a community handbell ensemble he founded in 1991.

A past national president of The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, Bill worked with that organization from 1991 to 2003 as its Music Editor. He is currently the Handbell Music Editor for Beckenhorst Press. In addition to serving as AGEHR Interim Executive Director from July, 2001 through June, 2002 and Events Director, Bill has been active in the Handbell Industry Council serving in three elected offices. On the international level, he was Chairman of the International Handbell Committee for eight years.

 

Marianne Kim, Organ Editor

Born and raised in Korea, Marianne studied piano and composition at Busan High School of Arts and earned a BM in composition at Pusan National University (Busan, Korea). After working professionally for more than a decade in the United States, she returned to school and earned dual Masters of Music degrees in jazz studies and organ performance with scholarships and prizes from Northern Illinois University. 

Now based in Chicago, Marianne is known for her vibrant performances and compositions for piano, organ, and harpsichord in a wide diversity of musical styles, such as classical, jazz, Broadway musical, R&B, gospel, traditional and contemporary church music, and more. She currently teaches organ and harpsichord at Northern Illinois University, as well as other courses at Wheaton College and North Park University, holds the esteemed position of principal organist at Christ Church of Oak Brook, and leads two local chapters of the AGO (American Guild of Organists) in the Chicago area.

 

Jeffrey Hamm, President and General Manager (Retired, December 2022)

Jeff received his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts in music education, in 1975 and a Master of Arts degree in piano pedagogy in 1979 from The Ohio State University. He was first employed by J. Arthur Music, which was a distributor for Beckenhorst Press. When John Ness Beck expressed a desire to distribute his own music, Jeff let it be known that he would like to join the team. In March of 1981 he was hired. Six years later John was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At that time he made plans for Beckenhorst to continue its course and appointed Jeff to take over the administrative responsibilities of the company as President and General Manager. Jeff is a past President of the Handbell Industry Council. Jeff frequently accompanies area church choirs and has served as Musical Director for professional and community theatre productions including Contemporary American Theatre Company (CATCO), Columbus Children’s Theatre and Gallery Players. He is an avid animation fan and loves to travel to Disney World.