Cargo Records

• FOCUS ON: Matthew Welch

• Official Website >>
• Label: Tzadik >>
• Genre: Folk / Acid Folk

Matthew Welch is a young composer who blends his Scottish roots and skills as a bagpipe virtuoso with folk music and Indonesian Gamelan.

One of only a few bagpipe players in modern creative music. Welch grew up studying Scottish bagpiping and experimental music. He attended Simon Fraser University and Wesleyan University, where he worked with Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier. Braxton wrote his Composition No. 247 with Welchs bagpipes in mind, which is unusual because the music from Braxtons Ghost Trance Series has generally not been written for specific instruments. Welch also played accordion on Luciers Vespers and Other Early Works. 2002 saw the release of Ceol Nua, in which Welchs compositions were performed by the Janacek Conservatory Orchestra and various Wesleyan students. ~ Charlie Wilmoth, All Music Guide