Beckel’s first true non-jazz composition was Night Visions. Erich Kunzel, the long-time Cincinnati Pops Orchestra director, appreciated Night Visions, but it was too long and too serious for a pops audience. Beckel was up against a similar wall in the symphonic world: Night Visions was not "serious enough" for an orchestral environment. Beckel unintentionally learned how marketing and composition can be large influences that determine performing opportunities.
