About Joe

Clarinetist Joseph Sanchez is an active Chicago-area freelance musician and educator. He graduated with a master's degree in music performance from DePaul University in 2022 and holds degrees in both clarinet performance (2012) and mathematics (2012) from the same institution.
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Sanchez served as acting bass clarinet of the Quad City Symphony for their 2019-2020 season and has performed as clarinet and bass clarinet with many of the region's surrounding orchestras, including the Milwaukee Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Madison Symphony, Quad City Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Battle Creek Symphony, and Southwest Michigan Symphony. From Fall 2012 through Spring 2014 Sanchez was a regular member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, working closely with Yo-Yo Ma during two season-long artistic explorations of orchestral masterworks and performing under some of the most esteemed conductors of our time, including Riccardo Muti, Jaap van Sweden, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Rei Hotoda, and Harry Bicket, during his tenure.

An avid proponent of chamber music and its transferable principles, Sanchez is also co-founder of the Lake Effect Clarinet Quartet (Vandoren Silver Artist) and the Ursa Ensemble. LECQ pushes the limits of an all-clarinet ensemble by performing original and virtuosic arrangements of canonic masterworks for virtually any instrumentation. Sanchez can be heard on the ensemble’s two albums, Nielsen, Grainger, and Strauss, and Cooler by the Lake​, and has taught and performed with Lake Effect at schools and venues both locally and nationally.

Further broadening his versatility as a single reed player is his ample performance experience as a woodwind doubler for musical theater productions.  Sanchez most recently descended back into the musical theater to play clarinet, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone for the 2023 Jeff Award Nominated American Premiere of the musical London Road, produced by Shattered Globe Theater.
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Sanchez currently holds clarinet instructor positions at Lane Technical High School and Whitney Young High School. He also teaches a small private lesson studio at Lake Central High School in his hometown of St. John, IN.