Santa Clara University

James Welch

Phone: 650-856-9700

James Welch

Organ Faculty

James Welch is the University Organist and lecturer in music at Santa Clara University, where he joined the music faculty in January 1993. He teaches students in the Music Department and Department of Pastoral Ministries. He is organist of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, where he directs an active and varied concert series.

James Welch was awarded the Doctor of Musical arts degree in organ performance at Stanford University, where he studied with Herbert Nanney and served as Assistant University Organist. He has also studied organ with Grace Brown; Parley Belnap, Brigham Young University; Dr. Alexander Schreiner, former Mormon Tabernacle Organist; Dr. Josef Doppelbauer, Mozarteum Akademie, Salzburg, Austria; Jean Langlais, Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France; and Dr. John Walker. Piano studies were with Elsa Burland and Earle Voorhies in Pasadena, California. From 1977 to 1994 he served as University Organist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In 1984 he was the recipient of a Fulbright award to pursue research on historical Cavaillé-Coll organs in Brazil. He has continued his research in Latin American organ music, and has presented lectures and recitals on this subject at the 1992 National AGO Convention in Atlanta and at the International Congress of Organists in Montreal in July 1993. He has travelled extensively in Latin America, doing research and recitals in Brazil, Argentina, and México. He has edited three volumes of organ works by Mexican composers. In July 1994 he gave a lecture and recital on Mexican organ music at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Dallas, Texas.

His world-wide appearances include concerts at St. Stefans Cathedral, Vienna; Würzburg Cathedral, Germany; Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; Franciscan Church, Salzburg, Austria; Cathedral of St. Maurice, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia; Resurrection Church, Poznan, Poland; Wellington Cathedral, New Zealand; National Theater, Taipei, Republic of China; Beijing Concert Hall; the University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and city carillons of Holland, Belgium, and Israel. In this country he has performed at Harvard, Yale, and Duke Universities; National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.; The Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City; and Central Union Church, Honolulu. Performances in California include Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; Stanford Memorial Church, and campuses of the University of California at Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.

James Welch holds the Associateship Certificate of the American Guild of Organists. He has served on both the local and regional levels as an officer of the Guild and has performed several times at Guild conventions. He has written articles on a variety of topics for organ journals such as The American Organist and The Diapason. His recordings include "Magnum Opus," recorded on the Flentrop organ of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle; "Music for Christmas," Stanford University Memorial Church; "Recital," All Saints' Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, California; "Discovery," St. Mark's-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, Los Olivos, California; "The Organ of the Carmel Mission Basilica," "Instrument of Peace," Church of Saints Peter and Paul in San Francisco; "Instrument of Wonder," Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Oakland, California; "The Eule Organ of St. Nikolai Church in Berlin-Spandau"; and "Around the World in Under 80 Minutes, St. Elizabeth Church, San Francisco Many of his recorded performances have been aired on Public Radio International's "Pipedreams" program.

His travels, studies, and performances on historical and modern instruments throughout the world have given him a sure command of many styles of music. Critics in this country and abroad have praised him for his technical facility, solid musicianship, and creative programming.

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