Graham John Lyons – 1937 – 2024

Graham was our Founding Father. An eccentric enthusiast for many things that interested him, especially music. He was an accomplished woodwind player, performing nationally and internationally with orchestras and small groups. With a particular interest in jazz, Graham released a single in the 80’s featuring him on jazz bassoon. He also played saxophone, flute and clarinet and composed hundreds of pieces ranging from simple tunes for children to a full clarinet sonata that has been performed around the world. You can find his music at https://cliftonedition.com/useful-music/ and also see it performed on YouTube.

In 1988 Graham invented and launched the Lyons C Clarinet which was the forebearer of the NUVO Clarinéo, a simplified clarinet in the key of C which was designed specifically to encourage young students.

He was passionate about encouraging children to participate in music and was determined to provide instruments that are suitable and encourage rather than discourage children to practice more and enjoy their music. Sadly, Graham didn’t live to see the launch of the Zip-Kit but we know he would love the concept of making learning the drums more accessible. He always had a high regard for drummers as the driving force behind any band, so he would have loved the Zip-Kit.

We are proud of our heritage and will continue to work to build on Graham’s vision for music education.

Graham passed peacefully in his home county of Yorkshire, England after a short illness.

He will be missed by all at NUVO and remains fondly in our memory.

Max Clissold

CEO