About Me
Dr. Joseph S. Lyons (b. 1995) is a performing artist, composer, arranger, educator, and artistic designer who specializes in experimental applications of music technology. A dynamic multi-instrumentalist who plays a variety of woodwind, brass, string, and electronic instruments, he is drawn to the physical transformation of sound and researches new methods for inducing this change. Dr. Lyons approaches interactive electroacoustic music as a medium through which to explore his own artistic voice via the creation and performance of works in this idiom.
Dr. Lyons has enjoyed an active career as a performer, instructor, and designer in the pageantry arts that began at age 16 with the Atlanta CorpsVets Drum & Bugle Corps (now Atlanta CV) from 2011-12. He went on to perform with the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps (2014-17) and won a DCI World Championship in 2016. Since aging out of DCI, Dr. Lyons has performed with the Bluecoats 50th Anniversary Alumni Corps (2022) and held pageantry design roles ranging from Choreographer for Milton High School’s World Class Finalist Indoor Drumline to Woodwind Arranging Consultant for Ascension Winds. Dr. Lyons is currently the Winds & Visual Caption Head for Rhythm IN BLUE (the Bluecoats' SoundSport ensemble) and was previously the featured saxophone soloist in their 2023 production “The House.”
In addition to his experiments with electroacoustic performance art, Dr. Lyons has dedicated much of his recent career to community outreach. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he co-founded the Albireo New Music Collective to champion the creation and virtual performance of new chamber music when live ensemble performances were not possible. From 2021-24, Dr. Lyons was the saxophonist and lead arranger for the University of South Carolina 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 led several initiatives to serve the greater Columbia area and beyond. Notable projects include a songwriting workshop with incarcerated mothers as part of the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project and a fundraiser concert hosted by Fuller Forests, a nonprofit organization dedicated to global reforestation.
An active teaching artist, Dr. Lyons has presented engaging programs at K-12 schools, universities, libraries, bookstores, retirement communities, art galleries, museums, community centers, and professional conferences. Recent conference appearances include The NAMM Show, North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conferences, and the US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium. Dr. Lyons has taught classes ranging from preschool summer music camps to collegiate music courses, and he currently maintains an online private studio.
Dr. Lyons holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance from the University of South Carolina, where his dissertation investigated the experimental transformative capabilities of modular synthesizers in interactive electroacoustic chamber music. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society and also holds degrees from the University of Georgia (BME), Georgia State University (MM), and Stephen F. Austin State University (PAC). Dr. Lyons' former teachers include Connie Frigo, Jan Berry Baker, Nathan Nabb, Clifford Leaman, Lauren Meccia, and Reginald Bain.