Amyr Joyner

VIOLIN

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Amyr Joyner began playing the violin at the age of five in the Peabody Conservatory’s Young Peoples String Program (YPSP). While at Peabody, Amyr studied with Yoon Mee Chung until December of 1993. In January 1994, Amyr and his family moved to Atlanta and in April of 1995, he resumed his violin lessons with retired Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Violinist, Pat Vas Dias. Shortly after, Amyr went on to study with ASO violinist Raymond Leung and ASO’s Assistant Concertmaster Jun-Ching Lin in the ASO’s Talent Development Program where he was a member for 5 years. Amyr has been a member with The Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra, Dekalb Symphony Orchestra, Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, Soulful Symphony, Peabody Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta University Centerwide Orchestra. Amyr was also Co-Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. He attended Madeline Island Summer Music Camp performing chamber music, where he studied with Vartan Manoogian and Jazz Violinist John Blake Jr. Amyr has also attended Weathersfield Music Camp and Encore School for Strings where he studied with Almita Vamos, Navo Milo, Piotr Janowski, and Victor Danchenko.

Amyr was a semi-finalist in the 2002-2003 National Sphinx Competition in Detroit. He was a third place Laureate in the 2003 Sphinx Competition, and made his solo debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra later that year. He has been a scholarship winner of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and the American Federation of Musicians. Amyr has performed as a trio member at the Atlanta Grammy Heroes Awards in July 2002. He has also performed along with his two brothers as the KAJ Trio, who opened for Bruce Hornsby during a benefit concert in November 2002. The KAJ Trio also performed for Coretta Scott King in the kickoff reception for the Martin Luther King Jr. week in January 2003. Amyr has performed solos for the Grammy in the Schools National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Convention and the National Association of Negro Musicians Convention. Amyr has had coaching opportunities and performed in master classes for Concert Violinist Robert McDuffie, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Sergiu Swartz, and Sanford Allen, Ani Kavafian.

In 2003, Amyr attended the Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship where he studied with Patinka Kopec. Shortly after, he transferred to the Peabody Conservatory and completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Violin Performance, while studying with violinist Victor Danchenko, graduating in 2009. He recently attended the Gateway Music Festival in Rochester. He is currently a violin teacher for the Atlanta Music Project, in Southwest Atlanta.