Born and raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago, JJ Sechan began playing the bassoon in high school, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School and an Artist Diploma from Oberlin Conservatory. JJ moved to Colorado in 2016, to join the Colorado Springs Philharmonic as Principal Bassoon, and additionally performs with the Boulder Philharmonic, Opera Colorado, and Colorado Symphony orchestras. Recent season highlights included a tour to the Kennedy Center for the Shift Festival of American Orchestras, a concerto appearance with the Boulder Philharmonic, and a solo appearance with the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs.

In addition to performing, JJ is intensely dedicated to improving access to music education in Colorado Springs. He teaches bassoon at middle and high schools throughout the Pikes Peak Region, and created a nonprofit chamber music program for musicians of all ages and abilities called Alpenglow Music Program (alpenglowmusicprogram.org). Since its July 2020 launch, the program has hosted more than 70 participants and is currently developing a summer program to launch in June 2022.

A love of sharing music led JJ to host local public radio at Jazz 93.5 and KCME (kcme.org). In 2020 he wrote and produced special programming for all major Jewish holidays. He is currently working on a contemporary music show, In Case You Missed It, airing Wednesday nights at 6:00pm. It features works never before heard on KCME, combining recently composed music with new album releases.

JJ is immensely grateful to his teachers and mentors, Judith LeClair, George Sakakeeny, Ann Dufek, and Francisco Ybarra.