Gregory Lyons is Associate Professor of Music and the James Alvey Smith Endowed Professor at Louisiana Tech University where he teaches applied percussion, directs the percussion ensemble, and coaches the drum line. He also serves as head of instrumental music education. Formerly, Dr. Lyons was as an assistant band director in the Missouri public schools where he taught percussion and conducted beginning and intermediate bands. As a solo and ensemble performer, he has made appearances in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, and California including performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention's Technology Day and the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. He is principal percussionist with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra (Alexandria, LA) and has also performed with the Shreveport Symphony, Monroe Symphony, Texarakana Symphony (TX), West Shore Symphony (MI), and Lansing Symphony (MI). Dr. Lyons is the co-coordinator and co-founder of New Music on the Bayou, a contemporary summer music festival formed in 2016. He also coordinates the North Louisiana Youth Percussion Ensemble Festival at Louisiana Tech. He is past president and current treasurer of the Louisiana Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, and is a proud endorser of Grover Pro Percussion, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, SABIAN Cymbals and Majestic Percussion.