Joachim Franke was born in 1958 in Schorbus near Cottbus. At the age of ten he received his first instrumental lessons in trumpet from the then solo trumpeter of the Cottbus State Theater, Hans Hütten.
Three years later he was accepted at the special school for music "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden. His teachers there were Günter Luck, trumpeter of the Staatskapelle Dresden, and Prof. Ludwig Güttler, then principal trumpet of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, on whose recommendation he changed in 1974 to major trombone with P.-G. Schmidt, principal bass trombonist of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1976 to 1980 he studied trombone at the Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden. After the successful state examination, he began his engagement as solo trombonist of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra in August 1980. In 1985 he was appointed chamber musician, and was also a permanent member of the "musica viva ensemble", as well as a founding member of the "Courtois Trombone Quartet". In 2002 he changed to the position of the second trombonist of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 2008 he bears the title of chamber virtuoso.