As a child he played tuba in the Briançon town band and after early studies at the école de musique de Briançon he attended for two years the Conservatoire de Marseille before entering the
Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris. There he followed courses in conducting with Jean-Sébastien Bérault, musicology and composition with
Pierre Villette, vocal studies (tenor) with
Christiane Eda-Pierre, and piano. He was struck early by a passion for the music of Offenbach, through the TV series
Les Folies Offenbach with
Michel Serrault, the recording of
Belle Hélène conducted by
René Leibowitz and that of
Les Contes d'Hoffmann conducted by
Pierre-Michel Le Conte, with
Heinz Rehfuss. For some years Jean-Christophe Keck has been leading the work to create a critical edition of all the works of Offenbach. The Offenbach Edition Keck is being published by
Boosey & Hawkes. Already Keck's editions of
La Périchole,
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein,
La Vie parisienne and
Les Brigands have been successfully performed. His edition of the 1858 version of
Orphée aux enfers has been highly praised. His researches have led him to acquire many important related documents and manuscripts. In a 2013 article he predicted that the edition OEK would when complete comprise 43 volumes, although he added "that won't be in my lifetime". Keck featured in the 2004 documentary directed by Gérald Caillat
The Missing Manuscript, about the textual history of ''
Les Contes d'Hoffmann''. In 2002 the Festival de Radio-France Montpellier saw the recreation of Offenbach's grand opéra romantique
Les Fées du Rhin in Keck's edition. The revival of this important work won various prizes including the Prix Michel Garcin (Meilleure initiative discographique) of the Académie du disque lyrique. Keck is also a producer and presenter for
France Musique. == Discography ==