Meet Your Professor

Andrew Lyon

Through creative programming and enthusiasm for engaging audiences and musicians of all ages, Andrew Lyon has built a reputation as an exciting and innovative conductor with an eye on the future of the orchestra and its repertoire. 

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As an educator and arts advocate, Andrew’s goal is for everyone to enjoy their time with music, be it as a performer, student, or patron. In addition to hearing and appreciating great music, his work on and off the podium centers around audiences having an understanding of how experiencing and supporting the arts play important roles in their lives as citizens, taxpayers, and parents.  In 2016, Andrew joined the faculty of Ivy Tech Community College (IN) and restructured the Music Appreciation course to mirror his philosophy that students should be better informed of the music's cultural, economic, and developmental benefits.

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Andrew’s deep respect for the past and present is best seen through his concert programming as it showcases a careful balance of yesterday’s classics and tomorrow's masterworks. Since 2006, he has conducted the premiere performances of more than 25 works, establishing himself as one of contemporary orchestral music’s strongest proponents. With a passion for audience cultivation and development, Andrew’s out-of-the-box approach to music making - and the business around it - has helped him in serving as a marketing, development, logistical, and administrative consultant for a variety of for- and non-profit organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

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As a "catalyst conductor", Andrew has helped create various organizations and collaborative projects over the years. The highlight of this work was as the founding Artistic & Executive Director for the Circle City Chamber Group, an organization which produced groundbreaking events that brought together the Indianapols' top visual, culinary, and musical artists, for an all-inclusive arts experience, while also working to cultivate a new audience for the city's arts community.

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Born and raised in Chicago, and with deep Eastern European and Mexican roots, Andrew continues to work on advocating and advancing the arts as a conductor, composer, saxophonist, lecturer, and administrator.  Lyon earned his Bachelor of Science in Music Performance at Illinois State University, and his Masters [With Distinction] in Orchestral Conducting at Butler University under the tutelage of Richard Auldon Clark. Noted mentors include Markand Thakar, Harold Weller, Takayoshi Suzuki, and Harvey Felder.