John Welch : Associate Artist
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Random Audio Sample: Evolving recollection (solo piano) by John Welch, from the CD From rags to recollections |
Artist website: https://soundsight.org/
I was born in a country town to a talented working-class family.
Musical evenings with friends making music were frequent.
At five I started learning piano and I was diagnosed as
epileptic. It was a disability but in fact left me able to pursue
less conventional pathways.
When I was ten we moved to another town but without our piano so
I painted landscapes instead.
Being a working class kid I was expected to leave school when I
turned 15 and get a job. But epilepsy made that difficult. So I
continued completing High School, and then won a scholarship to
the University of Sydney to study Ancient Languages &
Mathematics.
This was 1960's when the University Music Department along with
poets, performance artists etc was flourishing - coined at the
time, 'The 'Sydney Push' - representations were diverse and often
collaborative.
My interest in composing music was awakened.
When I reached 50 years I moved with my partner Andrew to New
England Tablelands. Living on the western ridge of the Great
Dividing Range with breathtaking views across the western slopes
and plains lead to awareness of connection to country and it's
ancestral links deep within me.
Biography provided by the composer