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 "Ruby by Night, Emerald by Day" is a solo work for soprano saxophone and modular synthesizer. The title refers to the gemstone alexandrite, an incredibly rare June birthstone that has a green/teal appearance in direct sunlight but a deep red/purple hue in incandescent light. The MIDI keyboard, USB pedal, and VCV patch provide the performer with real-time control over different playback effects including reverb and delay as well as synthesized pads and an arpeggiator.

Composed, Performed, & Produced by Joseph S. Lyons

This world premiere performance took place on April 5, 2025 at the NASA Region 2 Conference in Meng Concert Hall at CSU-Fullerton's Clayes Performing Arts Center (CPAC).

Melismatic Murmurations is a series of  improvisations for live instruments and modular synthesizer co-produced by sound designer David S. Ifland and myself. In this trio version for alto saxophone, cello, and brainwave performer, the modular synth patch records the live audio, processes it, and plays it back on a loop. The brainwave performer uses B.WavZ, a brain-computer-music-interface that can detect both mental commands to synthesize sound and quantify the performer's emotional state to determine the performance metrics including reverb, delay, looping, and pitch bending.

Cast:

Joseph S. Lyons, alto saxophone

Eunice Koh, cello

David S. Ifland, brainwave performer

This performance from my final dissertation recital took place on March 29, 2024 at the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall in Columbia, SC. 

  Melismatic Murmurations is a series of  improvisations for live instruments and modular synthesizer co-produced by sound designer David Ifland and saxophonist Joseph S. Lyons. In this solo version for soprano saxophone and interactive electronics, the modular synth patch records the live audio, processes it, and plays it back on a loop. The patch also uses a process called transient detection; when the sound picked up by the microphone crosses a predetermined dynamic threshold, the playback effects are randomized.

Performed & Produced by Joseph S. Lyons

 This world premiere performance took place on February 20, 2023 during my first DMA dissertation solo recital at the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall in Columbia, SC.

The Collective @ USC gave the world premiere performance of this arrangement on March 20, 2024 at the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall in Columbia, SC.

The Collective @ USC:

 Korcan Köstück, violin

Joseph S. Lyons, alto saxophone

Eunice Koh, cello

Joseph Gaskins, double bass

Yuesen Yang, percussion 

This work was composed for the Albireo New Music Collective, an ensemble dedicated to the creation and virtual performance of new chamber music during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Personnel:

Jill Benway, flute

Amy Ian Hardemon, clarinet/bass clarinet

Joseph S. Lyons, alto saxophone

Shawn Nichols, trumpet

Mady Barker, horn

Ben Horne, euphonium

David S. Ifland, A/V producer

This work was composed for the Albireo New Music Collective, an ensemble dedicated to the creation and virtual performance of new chamber music during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Personnel:

Jill Benway, piccolo

Amy Ian Hardemon, bass clarinet

Joseph S. Lyons, alto saxophone

Shawn Nichols, trumpet

Mady Barker, horn

Ben Horne, euphonium

David S. Ifland, A/V producer

 This art song for soprano voice, saxophone quartet, and vibraphone is set to text from John Keats’ poem entitled “Endymion”. Featuring the Sharp2Science 4TET, Bryan Michael Wysocki on vibraphone, and Amanda Stansfield as the vocalist. 

"Pieces of Sanity, for alto saxophone and piano, contains five miniatures. Each short movement represents a frozen snapshot of a particular state of mind. We follow the protagonist as he experiences five states: Rage and Despair (movements 1 and 2) give way to Euphoria (movement 3); Possessed (movement 4) culminates into Stoic (movement 5)."

-program note by Stacy Garrop 

This performance from my second dissertation recital took place on February 20, 2023 in the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall in Columbia, SC.

 Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" is the last of his "14 Romances, Op. 34," a collection of art songs that were published in 1915. This song without words was dedicated to soprano singer Antonina Nezhdanova, and today it is frequently performed by both vocalists and instrumentalists. 

This performance with pianist Claudio Olivera took place during my 2nd dissertation recital on February 20, 2023 at the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall in Columbia, SC. 

I won a 1st Prize at the VI ODIN International Music Competition for this performance with pianist Hyun Ji Oh.

Repertoire:

Concerto da Camera (II. Larghetto - Animato molto) - Jacuques Ibert

Sonata (IV. Recitative and Dance) - William Albright

These movements were recorded in November 2020 and the competition took place in January 2021.

 This piece was written for the "Snapshots" series, a commissioning project for short, unaccompanied works that each focus on a specific aspect of the saxophone. Garrett Fuller chose to base To the Edge on the various characters glissandi can take on when played on the saxophone.

This recording was made in Cole Concert Hall at Stephen F. Austin State University and was premiered  on March 14, 2021 at the 2021 NASA Region 4 Virtual Conference.

This performance of the Allemande, Sarabande, and Bourrée Anglaise from J. S. Bach's Partita in A Minor, BWV 1013 won 1st place at the Georgia State University 2020 Honors Recital and earned me the 2020 GSU School of Music Dean's Award.

This performance took place on March 8, 2020 in the Florence Kopleff Recital Hall in Atlanta, GA. Performance starts at 0:33.

I commissioned and premiered this work at the 2019 NASA Region 6 Conference at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS on March 24, 2019. Recorded May 5, 2019 in the Dancz Center for New Music at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. Curtis Allen Gay's Fragment IV was also a part of this commissioning and recording project.

This world premiere performance took place on October 19, 2023 at the Sigal Music Museum in Greenville, SC on the first stop of the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet's Fall 2023 tour.

Personnel:

Clifford Leaman, soprano saxophone

Sheldon Johnson, alto saxophone

Andrew Allen, tenor saxophone

Joseph S. Lyons, baritone saxophone

This world premiere performance took place on October 14, 2023 at The Bookhouse in Winston-Salem, NC. Performance begins at 3:28.

Personnel:

Caleb Carpenter, soprano saxophone

Andrew Moore, alto saxophone

Dylan Ward, tenor saxophone

Joseph S. Lyons, baritone saxophone

The world premiere performance of the first two movements of the revised version of this work took place on March 13, 2021 at the NASA Region 4 Virtual Conference.

Sharp2Science 4TET:

Jacob Kilford, soprano saxophone

Ethan Dilley, alto saxophone

Nick Grimone, tenor saxophone

Joseph S. Lyons, baritone saxophone

The USC Saxophone Ensemble gave the world premiere performance of this arrangement on November 16, 2022 at the University of South Carolina W. W, Hootie Johnson Performance Hall.

The SFASU Saxophone Ensemble gave the North American virtual and live premieres of this work with saxophone soloist Nathan Nabb, electric guitarist Brandon Coleman, and conductor David Campo.

This recording was made in Cole Concert Hall at Stephen F. Austin State University and was premiered  on March 13, 2021 at the 2021 NASA Region 4 Virtual Conference.

Rhythm IN BLUE is the Bluecoats' all-age and all-instrumentation SoundSport ensemble. I was the featured saxophone soloist in Rhythm IN BLUE's 2023 program "The House," which included arrangements of tunes by Snarky Puppy and Spare Parts.

This performance took place at the SoundSport International Food & Music Festival on August 12, 2023 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN, and won overall Best in Show and All-Age Best in Class.

In the summer of 2022, I had the honor and privilege of performing with the Bluecoats 50th Anniversary Alumni Corps. Every year of the Bluecoats from 1972-2022 was represented in this ensemble, and the show contained repertoire from the Bluecoats' "greatest hits."

This exhibition field performance and joint encore with the 2022 Bluecoats took place after the DCI World Championship Semifinals on August 12, 2022 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.