Eric Lyon, an associate professor in the School of Performing Arts, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to conduct spatial audio research. The yearlong fellowship provides Lyon with support to produce three multichannel compositions for the Cube in the Moss Arts Center; these are complemented by “Marimbas Everywhere,” which he created for the Virginia Tech Percussion Ensemble and which had its premiere in April.

The spatial orchestration Lyon employs in his compositions allows for the pieces to be rewritten for each performance space and speaker array.

The Guggenheim Foundation funds only 175 of its applications – usually more than 3,000 – each year; in 2018 there were just a dozen winners in music composition.

Lyon, who joined the Virginia Tech community in 2013, earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s from the Eastman School of Music, and a doctorate from the University of California at San Diego.