Andrew Jonathan Welch, Keyboard Artist
Like Mozart, Fauré, and countless others before him, Andrew Jonathan Welch is a musician whose freelance career combines performance, composition, conducting, and teaching. Intensely committed to his belief that music can be a dynamic force for good in the lives of individuals and societies, Andrew’s voracious performance schedule makes himamong the most active pianists and conductors working today. While his performances have included appearances with the Washington Bach Consort, bass-baritone Kevin Short, sopranos Laura Choi Stuart and Carmen Balthrop, and members of the National Symphony Orchestra, you are also just as likely to see him performing at your niece’s voice recital or your neighbor’s choir concert.
An intensely curious musician, Andrew furthered his aim to explore engaging and challenging programming by founding the Georgetown Epiphany Festival in 2018, which most recently produced a festival of three concert programs in early 2020 that explored the legacy of Beethoven. He is also the chief curator of Perfect Octave at the Hill Center in Washington, DC, which combines seminars with performances to deepen an audience’s connection with music of the western canon.
In addition to his curatorial outlets, Andrew is the Director of Music Ministry at Allin Congregational Church in Dedham, Massachusetts, and the outgoing Artistic Director of the Seriously Fun Singers, an itinerant chamber choir that rehearses in living rooms throughout suburban Washington, DC. He also kindles the flame of discovery that passes from his own teachers through the maintenance of a piano studio, whose students of all ages and abilities constantly challenge him to a more thoughtful, thorough pedagogy. Andrew’s own formal education includes American University, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and, most recently, the University of Maryland, where he completed his doctoral work, centered on the pedagogy of Olivier Messiaen, in May of 2020.
Inspiration comes from the countless experiences of beauty, both subtle and apparent, that surround us every day. Among the countless stewards with which Andrew has been privileged to traverse the frontier of music, he counts Yuliya Gorenman, Rita Sloan, Andrew Harley, and his dear friend, Richard Giarusso, among the most influential.