Pianist diverted from New York City by COVID led by God to Southwestern doctoral program

Alison Beck and her sister, Elizabeth, had a thriving music business in New York City before the COVID-19 pandemic began. She spent six years working as a freelance pianist alongside her violinist sister and loved the cultural opportunities provided for them living in such a big city. 

“We both had planned on making the city our home,” Beck explained. “However, the pandemic utterly devastated the professional music industry and we realized that we would not be able to earn a living playing in New York City anymore.”

Consequently, in 2020 the sisters packed up their apartment and moved back to their tiny hometown of Oil City, Louisiana. Beck began praying that God would show them a new direction for their lives. 

“After months of prayer and silence, I was idly scrolling through my Facebook feed at Christmas when I came across a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Church Music and Worship music video,” Beck recalled. “I distinctly felt God urging me to check out the music program at SWBTS. I saw that SWBTS had a DMA program which was an exact combination of my two deepest passions: classical piano and church music. I felt certain that God was leading me here and after prayer and reflection, I submitted my application without ever having set foot on the campus.” 

Today, Beck is a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and church music student. This is her second year of study, and she will be on campus until the spring of 2024. After that, she said she will begin work on her lecture recital and dissertation, as part of the requirements for her doctoral degree.

“Southwestern has provided me with tremendous opportunities for me to grow as a Christian and as a musician. The faculty of the School of Church Music and Worship, especially Dr. Allen Lott, Dr. Nathan Burggraff, Dr. Ben Caston, and Dr. Tanya Karyagina, have all made deep, lasting impressions as both high-ranking scholars and deeply committed Christians who care about the welfare of each student individually,” Beck observed. 

Beck said that Joseph R. Crider, dean of the SCMW “stands out” among the school’s professors because “his emphasis on Scripture-led worship has resonated throughout every single department in the music school, resulting in students and graduates who hunger to lead their congregations with music that is theologically excellent, in addition to being musically excellent.”

Crider’s lectures, which Beck describes as “all rooted deeply in Scripture and full of research from leading theologians,” were “challenging” to the doctoral student.

“His penetrating questions allowed me to expand my own definition of worship, showing me how to pinpoint the biblical basis, origins, and purpose of corporate worship,” she explained. “I’m now better equipped to communicate the importance of biblically based corporate worship to those with whom I come in contact, and I have a deeper understanding of how to incorporate these truths into my own ministry of composing, arranging, and presenting music in worship.” 

Beck describes her ministry as a pianist and composer as being “multi-faceted.” 

“My sister and I play together as a piano/violin duo called Beckthoven Duo,” she said. “We’ve traveled to churches across the nation to join in worship services and concerts, playing my own violin/piano hymn arrangements. I design these arrangements for use on the classical concert stage as well. This allows us to share the message of the hymn text and the good news of the Gospel within the framework of traditional recital setting. I also write choral music both sacred and secular and enjoy interacting with the choirs who sing my music.”

Beck’s DMA recital in the spring 2023 will be a chamber music recital in which her sister will join her in sonatas of Brahms and Ravel, and they will play a few of their own hymn arrangements. Also, the Beck sisters have been invited to play for the Baptist Church Music Conference in April on the Southwestern campus.

Additionally, Beck enjoys “old hymns.” She said “time-tested” hymns, including “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “How Firm A Foundation,” among others have both lyric and music that “have encouraged and spiritually formed generation upon generation of Christians around the world.” 

“My sister and I really enjoy playing my arrangement of ‘Amazing Grace,’ because it’s a hymn that resonates with so many people,” said Beck. 

Although Beck is unsure of where God will lead her after she finishes her DMA at Southwestern, she plans “to continue living her life in service to her Creator and for His glory.” “This service might be in a higher education setting or in church music ministry or a combination of these and seventeen other things” as “musicians often wear many hats,” she said. “Whatever direction I go, I know that God prepares His people for the tasks He sets before them and through His faithfulness, He has provided a wonderful education for me at this seminary.”