A taste of life in Ghana, West Africa can be experienced at Iowa State today with a special presentation “Music and Culture in Ghana” that will be presented in Music Hall.

Jeremy Beck, assistant professor of composition and theory at the University of Northern Iowa will present a lecture featuring pictures, tapes and a discussion about life in the village of Kopeyia, Ghana, West Africa.

“I will be presenting an overview of my experience musically and culturally,” Beck said.

The lecture by Beck will take place today at 1:10 p.m. in the Music Hall Recital Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Beck spent a five week period in June and July of 1995 teaching piano to Kopeyia-Bloomfield students. While in Kopeyia, Beck also studied the traditional drumming and dancing techniques from the master teachers of the village.

Commissioned works of Beck include pieces for violinist Katya Boguslavskaya and the Iowa Flute Festival at Grinnell College. Other works commissioned by Beck include pieces for the Iowa Music Teachers’ Association and the Alaria Chamber Ensemble.

While studying at the Yale School of Music, Beck received an award for a composition. Beck said it was for the opera “The Highway.”

Beck also received an award from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, which is a reading and recording prize for the composition “State of the Union.” He also received the National Federation of Music Clubs, which is a series of awards for chamber music.

Beck holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Musical Arts degrees from Yale University. He also received a Masters of Art from Duke University and a Bachelors of Science degree from The Mannes College of Music located in New York City.

Beck has taught at the Yale School of Music and in Russia at the Petersburg Conservatory and Herzen University in St. Petersburg. He also taught at the Mannes College of Music.

Beck traveled to West Africa and taught students at the Kopeyia-Bloomfield School in Ghana, and is back to share his experiences. Beck has been teaching at UNI for the past five years.