Born and raised in Boston, Seán Lyons was exposed to jazz from birth by his jazz fanatic father who always had bebop records playing at home. He began his saxophone studies at age ten, receiving his first private lesson from legendary saxophonist Sonny Stitt. After years of intensive study of jazz and classical music, including summers at a music school in the Berkshires, he won numerous awards in high school and performed at the Paris Jazz Festival at age eighteen. Seán was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Following his studies, he spent several years performing internationally on luxury cruise ships that took him to the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Europe before establishing a base in Hawaii for three years while also continuing to perform in other places such as New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Italy.
Seán next moved to Seoul, Korea, where he became one of the country’s most prominent jazz musicians over a four-year period. During this time, he appeared frequently on national television and additionally was the featured artist in hundreds of live performances. He also continued to work in the United States alongside jazz masters such as George Coleman, Jon Faddis, Curtis Fuller, Al Foster, Billy Hart, and Alan Dawson. Additionally, while in Korea Seán earned first and second-degree black belts in Taekwondo and won two gold medals and one silver medal fighting in Korean tournament competitions.
In 1997 Seán returned to the U.S. to live in the center of the jazz world, New York City. While he continues to perform internationally, Manhattan is his home where he works extensively as a freelance musician and leads several of his own groups. His 2009 recording Roar of Lyons (Posi-Tone Records) was co-produced by Kenny Garrett and Seán, and featured Al Foster, David Hazeltine, and John Webber, with guest appearances by Tom Harrell, Jim Rotondi, and Conrad Herwig. The album spent 19 weeks in the JazzWeek national radio report’s top 100 (3 weeks in the top 50).
Throughout his career, Seán has worked with a distinguished list of jazz artists, including Lew Tabackin, Harold Mabern, Eddie Henderson, Bob Cranshaw, Steve Davis, Victor Lewis, Kenny Drew Jr., Joey Calderazzo, Brian Lynch, Geoff Keezer, Mike LeDonne, Herb Pomeroy, Bernard Purdie, David Happy Williams, Benny Powell, Carl Allen, Paquito D’Rivera, Rachel Z, Gray Sargent, Gabe Baltazar, Greg Hopkins, Jimmy Owens, Joe Farnsworth, James Genus, Emil Richards, Cecil Bridgewater, Lonnie Plaxico, George Garzone, and Eddie Locke among many others.
In addition to his performance career, Seán is a dedicated music educator. Since 1998 he has been a key contributor to The Midori & Friends Foundation led by Classical music superstar violinist Midori where he focuses on enriching the lives of children by sharing his musical knowledge and experiences with them.