A native of New York’s Adirondack Mountains, Joel is a passionate music educator and life-long learner who cares deeply about sharing the world of music with others. He currently serves as lead orchestra teacher for Clayton County Public schools and is the director of orchestras at Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts in Jonesboro, GA since 2017, helping students prepare for pathways in music-related fields. He received his music education degree in orchestral teaching from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, NY and a Master of Music in Music Education degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. As a fifth-generation violinist and fiddler, he has recorded five albums to his name, including a family anthology of eighty-six tunes spanning five generations of Perkins Family music. Joel has had the opportunity to tour nationally with the band Jacks and Heroes and perform at the Great American Irish Festival in Utica, NY, with his former band, Inisheer. One of his most memorable moments was performing for President George W. Bush and U.S Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas while in office. In 2021, he was the recipient of the Magnet Schools of America CCPS Teacher of the Year Award which is an accomplishment that he is honored and proud to have earned. Joel's current pursuits outside of the classroom include his new band, .jpeg with bandmate and colleague Eric Gregory, composing original Celtic/electronic musical and visual works that focus on music as a language.
