James B. Welch
James B. Welch is an organist, composer, and arranger. He wrote the music to “Bless Our Fast, We Pray” (#138), which was included in the 1985 Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He co-wrote the hymn with John S. Tanner, his first missionary companion.
Welch holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from Stanford University. He studied in France and Austria before becoming an internationally renowned concert organist. He has performed and taught internationally.
He taught on the music faculties of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara University. Welch is a specialist in Latin American organ music and received a Fulbright award to perform and conduct research on historic 19th-century Cavaillé-Coll organs in Brazil. He has performed in Mexico and edited three volumes of organ music by contemporary Mexican composers.
He is the author of biographies of two prominent California organists: Dale Wood: The Man and the Music, and Richard Purvis, Organist of Grace.
Welch performs regularly as a guest recitalist at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and he has taught at the Church Music Workshop held at Brigham Young University. He conducts workshops and performances in stakes throughout the United States and abroad.
He and his wife, Deanne, will serve a mission at the BYU Jerusalem Center, where he will be resident organist and Deanne will serve as the choir director. They are the parents of two sons. He is the younger brother of John W. Welch.
