Jeffrey D. Hamm received his undergraduate degree, a bachelor of music education, from the Ohio State University in 1975. He received his master of arts degree, in piano pedagogy, in 1979, also from Ohio State.

At that time Jeff was employed by J. Arthur Music, which was the distributor for Beckenhorst Press. When John Ness Beck expressed a desire to distribute his own music, Jeff let it be known he would like to join the team. In March of 1981, Beckenhorst Press began its own distribution and Mr. Hamm began his tenure with the company.

Early in 1987, John Ness Beck was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At that time, he made plans for Beckenhorst to continue its course with his retirement from the company. At that time he recruited Craig Courtney to take over as the music editor and appointed Mr. Hamm to take over the administrative responsibilities as president and general manager. Tragically, Mr. Beck passed away much sooner than was expected in June of 1987.

Mr. Hamm frequently accompanies area church choirs and serves as musical director for both professional and amateur theatre productions. He is also an avid animation fan and collector.

John Muschick served as a vocal instructor at Ohio State University for thirty years. Two of his students achieved considerable success and fame. Anita Berry won the Chicago Opera Studio Competition during her senior year at OSU and later won the Pavarotti Competition and sung with the tenor at the Philadelphia Opera. Another student, Diane Kesling, sang with the Metropolitan Opera for eight years and has performed in other opera houses around the world.

Mr. Muschick joined Beckenhorst Press in January of 1980, serving as executive secretary and layout editor and retired in 1987. Since that time he has continued to serve as consultant and layout editor on a part-time basis.

John Muschick passed away early in 2000.

Pamela Hill joined Beckenhorst Press full-time in 2008 taking over the position of Executive Secretary. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, interned in theatre management at Actors Theatre of Louisville and has degrees from Otterbein College (BA-Theatre) and Bowling Green State University (MA-Theatre & Business).

After graduation she pursued theatre management as the Publicist for Indiana Repertory Theatre. It was at her next job, Public Relations Director for Players Theatre of Columbus, where she met John Ness Beck (as an actor). Pam was also Marketing Director for Kenyon Festival Theater and the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia before deciding that directing was her destiny. As a Theatre Director she has staged over 90 professional productions from New Mexico to New York, winning awards for The Music Man, Blithe Spirit, A Christmas Story, Over the River and Through the Woods, Crazy for You, Lost in Yonkers and most recently, Urinetown the Musical. She continues to direct two to three shows per year and has taught at Wittenberg and Denison Universities.

In 2001 Pam took her first "for profit" job when See’s Candies of San Francisco hired her to help run the first Holiday Gift Center in Columbus. For seven years she hired, trained and managed several gift centers. Pam is also an avid traveler, loves board games and does voice-overs for industrials and commercials.

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 the Ohio State University, several Methodist Churches in the Columbus area, and was an adjunct staff member at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbus. His handbell choirs were internationally recognized through many recordings they did for various publishing companies and their performances in the United States, Korea, Japan, and Canada. He was 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 as its Music Editor, a position he held from 1991 through 2003. He is currently the Handbell Music Editor for Beckenhorst Press, Columbus, Ohio. Bill also served as AGEHR Interim Executive Director from July of 2001 through June of 2002, and Events Director. He has been active in the Handbell Industry Council and has served in the three elected offices (before the change in structure of the elected offices). Bill has conducted local, state, and national handbell festivals, and workshops extensively throughout this country, Canada, England, Estonia, Japan, and Korea. On the international level he served eight years as Chairman of the International Handbell Committee.

John Ness Beck was born in Warren, Ohio, on November 11th, 1930. After attending public schools in Warren, he enrolled at The Ohio State University in 1948. Although he had begun piano lessons at an early age, he did not feel that career prospects in music were bright enough to pursue. In 1952 he graduated from the The Ohio State Universtiy with B.A. and B.Sc. degrees with a major in English. After working for a year in Student Union activities at the State College of Washington, he spent two years in the army. During this time he was assigned to Special Services, and became increasingly involved in arranging for various music groups. Ultimately, he decided that his interest in music could not be denied, and after discharge from military service, he returned to Ohio State and completed M.Mus. and M.A. degrees in music with composition as his major.

Following that, he gained experience in many allied careers in music. First, he was a faculty member of The Ohio State University School of Music. After seven years of teaching harmony and theory, he left the university to become owner and manager of The University Music House, a retail sheet music store in Columbus. In this capacity he was able to observe the business side of the music industry and gain some insight into the complexities of music publishing and merchandising. Ultimately, as more and more of his compositions found their way into print and popularity, it seemed the next logical step to join forces with his long-time friend, John Tatgenhorst (also a gifted composer and arranger), in the creation of a publishing partnership, Beckenhorst Press. While managing his business and developing the publishing company, along with continual composing and arranging, he also served as choir director of the University Baptist Church in Columbus. His reputation as a composer and his experience as a choral director soon led to an increasing demand for appearances as guest conductor and lecturer at various clinics and festivals throughout the country.

With a universal interest in all forms of art, he had considerable experience in theater, which also included some work in dance. He began the study of art, specializing in graphic design and production. He learned the art of engraving music and autographed many of the Beckenhorst publications. He also designed and produced most of the covers. With his increasing involvement in publishing, it became necessary for him to sell his retail store in 1975, and then devoted full time to reviewing and editing manuscripts, engraving them, and designing and producing their covers. He found great satisfaction in returning to a form of teaching, by discovering and encouraging new talents, sharing his experience with them and helping them in any way he could to become newly established composers.

John Ness Beck died on June 25, 1987, leaving a wonderful legacy of music to be enjoyed by all.