WELCHONS, Michelle

  Born and raised in North Carolina, USA, New Orleans-based artist and composer Michelle Welchons seeks inspiration from a confluence of cultures and musical lineages. She began studying European classical music as a child, before transitioning into a vast exploration of West African and Latin American traditions. As a teenager, Welchons was somewhat inexplicably drawn to musics from around the world, especially traditional music and field recordings. She spent many hours scouring the albums at her local library, looking for new sonic landscapes to explore. This same passion eventually led her to live around the world for the greater part of her young adulthood, not under any official program, but simply integrating herself into every city and country where she found herself. Later, upon returning to the USA, she picked music back up with a very different perspective on the world and music's place and potential in it. She then studied under the tutelage of masterful traditional percussionists from Guinea, West Africa, Spain, and Havana, Cuba.

Deep reverence for nuances of global cultural expression has taken her across the world. Each region where she’s lived — including Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Spain, West Africa, Florida and California — adds layers and essence to her artistry. A conceptual percussionist, Welchons invites a range of artistic disciplines into her work as composer and arranger. Michelle is intrigued by the ways different musical languages can interact with each other in order to create something new, yet rooted. An openness and pervading curiosity has prompted collaborations with Cyrille Aimee, Gabrielle Cavassa, Weedie Braimah, Mahmoud Chouki, the Trumpet Mafia, Andrea Ward, Mariama Ndure, Aboubacar Soumah, Eddie Fields, Danielle Ryce, Agbedidi Ensemble, and SHAE Movement African Arts, among other distinctive artists. Welchons has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Snug Harbor, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. She currently leads acclaimed instrumental ensemble Orchidea. Michelle's approach to composition is one of spontaneity and storytelling. She is not bound by genre or ensemble type, and believes that the music should dictate the choices made while composing. Welchons draws on stories and images when imagining and hearing a new composition or arrangement. Her years playing as an accompanist for dance classes also influence her choices, as she has witnessed the power music has to make people move and to allow them to express emotion.

Michelle believes music and movement are inseparable and aims to create in a way that inspires the listener to dance, or at least to be able to release and channel emotion. Current releases by Michelle include an EP Introspection, music created from and for personal reflection and meditation, wholly composed, performed, and recorded by Welchons. Michelle's group, Orchidea, recently released a single, Zanye, based on a traditional Vodou song re-imagined by Welchons in odd meter, with influences from New Orleans and Cuba as well. I Sing is a composition for an a capella women's quartet, perfomed at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in New Orleans. It speaks on the struggles and realities of being a woman and moving through today's world. Most recently, Welchons released Flickering Lights, featuring acclaimed singer Gabrielle Cavassa, a composition about hope in times of darkness which showcases Michelle's love for orchestral composition and arranging.