Daniel Reck makes music when he's not counseling students at the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities.

Reck's latest work, "Of Dreams Eternal," premieres Sept. 19 at his alma mater, DePauw University in Greencastle. The 3 p.m. performance of DePauw's University Orchestra in Kresge Auditorium is free and open to the public.

The work evolved into a musical tribute to the life of Reck's friend Douglas Jeffries, who was killed in February in a weather-related automobile accident. Jeffries was a pep band member at DePauw and at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute.

Reck received word of the accident as he was putting the final touches on his composition.

"From the start, 'Of Dreams Eternal' was intended to be a celebration of dreams and life," Reck said. "It isn't a memorial, but became a fitting portrait of Doug's life. He touched a lot of people."

DePauw orchestra director Orcenith Smith described Reck's work as "noble, energetic and uplifting."

The orchestra's program also includes the overture to "Orpheus in the Underworld" by Jacques Offenbach and Felix Mendelssohn's music from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."