Joyce Besch has been playing the bassoon since the age of 10, when she and the bassoon were the same height. She has studied bassoon with Laine Bryce, Yoshi Tominaga, Carole Mason-Smith, and Linda Harwell and has received degrees from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. (B.A. Music Ed.), and from the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University (M.M. Performance).

While at the College of St. Catherine, Joyce was a two-time winner of the CSC Concerto competition, allowing her to perform as a soloist with members of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. While living in Toronto, Ontario, Joyce was an active free-lance bassoonist, playing with several area orchestras, including Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Windsor Symphony, Niagara Symphony and Oshawa-Durham Symphony.  Joyce also taught bassoon and aural skills at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan.