The Joan Beckow Legacy Project
Various Artists
Independent (joanbeckowlegacy.com)
The Joan Beckow Legacy Project commemorates the musical works of composer Joan Beckow who passed away at 88 in January 2021. The album was conceived and musically directed by one of Beckow’s close and longtime friends, Wendy Bross Stuart and her daughter Jessica Stuart. With the composer’s blessing, Bross Stuart, also a pianist on the album, and Jessica Stuart, both a vocalist and producer for the project, recorded and orchestrated 22 of Beckow’s songs.
Born in Chicago, Beckow was a prolific composer, pianist and singer. She relocated to Canada in her 30s, where she worked with many theatres as a composer and music director. Beckow’s compositions have been performed on stage countless times, but this posthumous album marks the first time her music was professionally recorded. Her legacy includes both liturgical and musical theatre works, and the double disc is divided as such; one focusing on materials more closely related to musical theatre and the other on classical and spiritual songs which include several pieces set to text from the Jewish liturgy.
The Joan Beckow Legacy Project is a premium offering. Both discs are carefully crafted, from the chosen repertoire and the orchestration to the order of presentation and the combination of singers and instrumentalists. Beckow’s considerable gifts as a composer and lyricist are revealed via numerous songs on the album, notably The Woman I’ll Be, Dwelling Places, Oseh Shalom, A Christmas Wish, Once There Was a Tailor and On the Other Side of Nowhere.
More information on The Joan Beckow Legacy Project, which includes a 25-minute documentary, can be found on the project’s website.
