About Me
Joseph S. Lyons (b. 1995) is a performing artist, composer, arranger, educator, and artistic designer who specializes in experimental creative applications of music technology. A multi-instrumentalist who plays a variety of woodwind, brass, string, and electronic instruments, Lyons is drawn to the physical transformation of sound and the discovery of new methods for inducing this change within the experimental genre of interactive electroacoustic chamber music.
Lyons is a Co-Founder of TECH.tonl Productions, a multimedia performance troupe and production company that has presented lectures and recitals at universities and conferences in Colorado, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. As TECH.tonl’s Executive Director, Lyons has curated an eclectic library of repertoire for this unique ensemble through the composition and commissioning of original works in this idiom as well as the adaptation of existing music into an electroacoustic setting. TECH.tonl’s programs are deeply influenced by the complex and ever-evolving relationship between science, technology, various art forms, and the occult; their performances integrate electroacoustic chamber music with theatrical practices such as staging, props, costumes, video projection, narration, acting, and choreography. TECH.tonl’s most notable project is Melismatic Murmurations, an ongoing series of open instrumentation electroacoustic improvisations based on the natural flocking patterns of starlings.
Lyons has enjoyed a dynamic career in the pageantry arts as a performer, instructor, and designer that began at age 16 with the Atlanta CorpsVets Drum & Bugle Corps (now Atlanta CV) from 2011-2012. Lyons went on to perform with the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps (2014-2017), where he won a DCI World Championship in 2016 and served as Mellophone Section Leader in 2017; he also performed with the Bluecoats 50th Anniversary Alumni Corps in 2022. Since aging out of DCI, Lyons has held pageantry design positions ranging from Lead Choreographer for Milton High School’s WGI World Class Finalist Indoor Drumline to Woodwind Arranging Consultant for the WGI Independent Open Class ensemble Ascension Winds. Lyons is currently on staff at Rhythm IN BLUE (the Bluecoats’ SoundSport ensemble) as a music and visual instructor as well as an audio technician; Lyons was previously the featured saxophone soloist in Rhythm IN BLUE’s 2023 production “The House.”
In addition to his experiments with electroacoustic performance art, Lyons has dedicated much of his recent career to community outreach and activism. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyons co-founded the Albireo New Music Collective to champion the creation and virtual performance of new chamber music during a time when live ensemble performances were not possible. From 2021-2024, Lyons was the saxophonist and lead arranger for the USC School of Music’s flagship chamber ensemble for contemporary music, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration: The Collective @ USC. In addition to premiering more than 35 new compositions and arrangements over three seasons, The Collective @ USC participated in several community engagement initiatives to serve the greater Columbia area and beyond. Notable outreach programs include a songwriting workshop with incarcerated mothers as part of the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project and a fundraising concert hosted by Fuller Forests, a non-profit organization of composers and performers dedicated to global reforestation.
An active teaching artist, Lyons has presented engaging lecture-recitals at K-12 schools, universities, libraries, bookstores, retirement communities, art galleries, museums, community centers, and various national and international conferences. Recent conference appearances include the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conferences, the US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, and the American Single Reed Summit. Lyons has taught classes ranging from preschool summer music camps to collegiate music courses, and he currently maintains an online private studio. Lyons holds degrees from the University of Georgia (BME), Georgia State University (MM), Stephen F. Austin State University (PAC), and the University of South Carolina (DMA); he is also a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society. Lyons' former teachers include Connie Frigo, Jan Berry Baker, Nathan Nabb, Clifford Leaman, Lauren Meccia, and Reginald Bain.