Instructor of Jazz Studies Lauren Meccia teaches applied jazz saxophone and voice at the University of South Carolina. She was formerly the director of jazz ensembles at USC and USC Aiken. She founded the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) New Horizons Band for senior adults in Aiken, SC and went on to direct the Crescent Moon Jazz Band as part of the Congaree New Horizons Band program at USC. Prof. Meccia is currently the director of the USC Jazz Lab Band as well as instructor of jazz theory, improvisation, and combo courses at USC. 

Prof. Meccia earned a Bachelor of Music in Education with a Certificate in Saxophone Performance and a Master of Music in saxophone performance from the University of South Carolina. She has performed at jazz and music festivals throughout the Southeast and across the US. She is a founding member of the South Carolina Jazz Masterworks Ensemble and a member of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. She was twice a featured performer at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. Prof. Meccia is currently the Director of the USC Jazz Festival and serves as a project manager for the national USC Jazz Girls Day program. 

Prof. Meccia and Dr. Bruno Alcalde, guitarist and USC School of Music faculty member, formed Duo Correntes in 2023. The duo is dedicated to creating and performing arrangements of Brazilian popular music from the 1800s to the present day. Duo Correntes gave its debut performance at the 2023 North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Biennial Conference in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and was featured at the World Saxophone Congress XIX in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 

Prof. Meccia has been a featured soloist with symphony orchestras and concert bands throughout the US and has appeared in concert with Kurt Elling, Camille Thurman, Joe Lovano, Veronica Swift, Jon Faddis, Kenny Barron, Chris Potter, Jeff Coffin, Wycliffe Gordon, Tommy Igoe, Mike Steinel, Wayne Bergeron, the New York Voices, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Temptations, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, and Jesse Colin Young. Her debut vocal album, Inside Your Eyes, was released in 2015 and received positive reviews in jazz publications throughout the United States, Russia, and Japan.