The music of Joseph Eidson (b.1981) contains rhythmic drive, crisp harmonies, and a preference for lyrical melodies. Composing for wind ensemble and for the voice occupy most of his recent output; recent works include a song cycle using the poetry of Christian Morgenstern, three choral pieces, and a wind ensemble work inspired by a recent NASA mission to study a comet.

While a majority of his output is for live performers, an ongoing project utilizes technology to create music using the sounds and methods of video game composers during the 1980s and early 1990s. These short pieces called chiptunes are varied in style and substance, each containing unique challenges limited only by imagination and software design. Two albums of his chip music are available via Bandcamp, and several new works combine live performers with Game Boy audio.

Active as a composer and educator, Eidson is a member of the music faculty of the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, with previous teaching appointments at Bucknell University, the University of Kansas, and the University of Texas. Eidson and his wife, Julia, live in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, with their feisty cats Gabs, Winston, and Moose who enjoy sleeping on top of any available manuscript paper when not being fed.

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