James welch
James welch
music director
Known for his performances on three continents, JAMES WELCH maintains an active career as a piano soloist, chamber musician, conductor and a teacher. He was a prize winner in many piano competitions including the John Pierce Langs and the Bradshaw and Buono International. He has performed solo and lecturer recitals for the SUNY at Buffalo; the SUNY at Fredonia; Morgan State University; East Carolina University; Jamestown Community College; all throughout the Portland, OR area; Lucca, Italy; and festivals throughout southern France. His chamber music performances have been heard on the stages of the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park with the Southwest String Quartet and a premiere performance with saxophonist Grant Larson of Philip Wharton’s Prohibition; the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society in Ontario with the Antero Winds; the Sydney Music Conservatorium in Sydney, Australia with soprano, Lianna Valente on the premiere performance of Dr. Timothy Brown’s Dreams Kept, Dreams Deferred; the many stages of the SUNY at Fredonia with various artists and repertoire including John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man and Lukas Foss’s Time Cycle; The Bop Stop in Cleveland, OH with The META Trio; stages along Italy’s Adriatic Coast with the Postacchini String Quartet; and his Carnegie Hall Debut in New York with violinist, Kaden Culp. His performances have been praised for his creative artistry by composers Lee Hoiby, John Corigliano, Eric Ewazen, Ian Clarke and Jason Robert Brown; to name a few. He has worked under the batons of Glen Cortese, Joann Falletta, William Weinert, Hugh Floyd, Joel Revzen, and Hans Schellevis. Additionally, he has played in workshops for William Eddins, Thomas Sauer, Renee Fleming, Giuseppe Sabatini, Victoria Clark, and Karen Akers. You can hear some of James’s performances with Jacob Swanson on their premiere recording titled, Invisible Cities.
As an active conductor, recent musical theatre credits include: KRAGTAR: The American Monster Musical; John & Jen; Sweet Charity; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Ordinary Days (the Buffalo, NY premiere performance); Songs for a New World; The Last 5 Years (in performance for the composer, Jason Robert Brown); Spring Awakening; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Godspell (2012 version); Little Shop of Horrors; Little Women; & Once Upon a Mattress with theatre companies Sierra Repertory Theatre in Sonora, CA; University of Fredonia in Fredonia, NY; East Carolina University; O’Connell & Company, and New Buffalo Productions. Concert highlights include: A Tribute to Linda Ronstadt with headliner Yesnia McNett; a revue of Jason Robert Brown’s music (with Jason Robert Brown), and a Broadway revue concert featuring singer/actor Keith Buterbaugh on the Chautauqua Institute’s Amphitheater concert series. Recent opera credits include: La Boheme; Susannah (filmed for PBS); Carmen; Don Giovanni; Les pêcheurs de perles; Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Die Zauberflöte, and Così fan tutte with theatre companies /kor/ Productions in Chicago, Il; Niagara Arts Cultural Center in Niagara Falls, NY; Buffalo Opera Unlimited in Buffalo, NY; and Academia Europe Dell’ Opera in Lucca, Italy.
His company Progressive Musicians is dedicated to helping musicians of all ages achieve their goals and advance artistically. Recently receiving awards for Excellence in Education and ranked as a top Visionary in Education by the Global Forum of Education and Learning, Progressive Musicians has recieved a global reputation for combining the traditional classical music competition formats with providing educational opportunities that contestants may use for improving their musical skills, through live interactive online sessions. Teamed up with friends at Virtual Concert Halls and Sound Espressivo Competition, a new format of online auditions was born, where contestants can audition live online and have direct interaction with the judges on a live-streaming platform that is crafted perfectly for broadcasting audio and video. Progressive Musicians and Virtual Concert Halls together have produced live recitals for selected musicians at Carnegie Hall in collaboration with The New York Chamber Players. Most recently a newly formed project colORCHESTRA was formed to provide musicians of all ages and levels the opportunity to perform Concerto with live orchestras all over the world. The inaugural concert in February 2023 featured 6 international soloists with The Western New York Chamber Orchestra at The State University of New York at Fredonia and was hosted live online by Virtual Concert Halls and Steve Robinson. The 2023-2024 season will include 4 more Winners’ Recitals at Carnegie Hall, and many live orchestral concerts all throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States.