Joey Lavarias, Assistant Teaching Professor of Bassoon at Ball State University, is an active bassoonist and educator. Joey was previously Applied Instructor of Bassoon at North Carolina State University and Adjunct Music Faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, specializing in music theory and aural skills. He has taught masterclasses around the country, including in Indiana, New York, and Florida. He is a candidate for the DMA at UNC-Greensboro, studying with Michael Burns, and has received two degrees from The Juilliard School, studying under Frank Morelli.

As an active freelance musician, Joey most recently held the 2nd bassoon position with the Durham Symphony Orchestra in Durham, NC from 2022 to 2025, and is a founding member of the Cardinal Sound Collective, a woodwind quartet based in Greensboro. He also previously held the 2nd bassoon position in the Billings Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Montana. Other orchestral performances include concerts with the Charlotte Symphony, Muncie Symphony, and North Carolina Opera. He has made concert appearances around the world, in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. Joey has performed at the New York String Orchestra Seminar, National Orchestral Institute (where he recorded a Grammy-nominated album w/ the NOI Philharmonic), Miami Summer Music Festival, Alba Music Festival in Italy, and has participated in seminars led by the Cleveland Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony. He has been featured on radio and television programs such as CBS Sunday Morning and the 2019 BBC Proms. You can also hear him on studio recordings for several prog rock bands, such as the Filibuster Saloon’s Going Off Topic, Eyeless Owl’s Murmurations, and Wippy Bonstack’s Tactile Demons. Outside of music, Joey is on the competitive trivia circuit. He is a mainstay in some of the top trivia leagues in the country, and appeared on the game show Jeopardy! in March of 2022.