Being told to stop tapping the desk during biology class usually isn’t a turning point in most people’s lives.
But for neighborhood resident Bradley Welch, incessant tapping — the object of his teacher’s annoyance — confirmed that his musical abilities were inherent. Welch learned piano by ear, plunking out at home the notes his preschool teacher played each day before naptime.
Then during a field trip to a local church, the organist showed the students all of the pipes and played a solo using only his feet. Welch was fascinated.
“The first time I played the organ, I was hooked,” he says.
He racked up awards for organ performances in college, and took home both the grand prize and the “audience favorite” award from the 2003 Dallas International Organ Competition.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has recruited him for performances (which is how Welch met his wife, a flautist), and each Sunday he plays for parishioners at Highland Park United Methodist Church, where his official title is “artist in residence”.
Even though he believes the fast-paced world we live in is a challenge to classical music, Welch works hard to keep the life of the pipe organ alive.
