He intended to study Mozart in graduate school, but while working at a record store, he was offered free recordings of Czech music in exchange for promoting their sales, since customers rarely showed interest in composers such as Josef Mysliveček, Josef Suk, Vitěslav Novák and Bohuslav Martinů.
He described his choice of Janáček’s theoretical works for his doctoral subject as an unwitting example of "buying low and selling high".
[9] Beckerman has written for the New York Times about subjects including Dvořák,[10][11] Bach,[12][13] Schubert,[14] the music of baseball,[15] and the dark sides of Christmas songs.
[16] In one piece, Beckerman noted that the tune that most excites students in grade school orchestras is the theme from "Jeopardy".
[17] The NYT quoted Beckerman's 'amusing' program notes about a musical suite based on a Gogol novella: "it is never useful to scold composers for their taste in literature".