Personnel Bio

MUC Megan Sesma

MUC Megan Sesma is the first enlisted principal harpist of the United States Coast Guard Band in 2003, representing the US Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. Originally from Waterloo, Iowa, she began her harp studies in a public-school harp program and attended high school at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts in Las Vegas, NV. As an international performer, she has performed in Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Russia, Ireland, Guadeloupe, France and with the Coast Guard Band nationally and in Taiwan and Japan. Ms. Sesma was awarded the 2023 Chevalier de Saint-Georges Medal of Honor for outstanding musical achievement, representation of diversity in Classical music and dedication to the memory of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges under the auspices of the Guadeloupe Regional Council, Ary CHALUS, President. In 2023 she received honorable mention at the Coast Guard Innovation Awards for the Command Climate System (CCS) built to support organizational climate survey processes and analyses. MUC Sesma was the 2013 recipient of the Latina Style Award for the Coast Guard, an honor presented annually to one active-duty female in the U.S. Coast Guard and the 2022 USCG Hallie Gregory Respect Award. MUC Sesma holds a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Rochester, and a master’s degree in harp performance from New York University, a Certificate in Executive Women’s Leadership from Yale University, and an MBA in Arts Innovation in August 2023 from the Global Leaders Institute. She is an adjunct harp faculty at the University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, and Wesleyan University. She is a CGA SEED/Equity Seminar facilitator and previously as the CG Band Education Chief organized the annual School Concert Series involving 7,000 school children. MUC Sesma is currently the 1st Vice President of the American Harp Society and the Strategic Planning Chair.  Ms. Sesma was the Chair of the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) Leadership Diversity Advisory Council (2020-2023), Co-Chair of the Superintendent’s Equity Advisory Council (2022-2023), on the Senior Leadership Team at the USCGA (2020-2023) and a champion of a positive command/organizational workplace climate.