"One of the cleverest composers writing today, and certainly one of our master colorists"
"A bright voice to listen to amid America's gray compositional landscape. He has something to say, and he says it directly and in a way very much his own."
"...one of the cleverest composers writing, and certainly one of our master colorists."
"It was a pleasure to encounter Mr. Welcher's music again, and his new piece, Bright Wings,...
"Bassoonists are also lucky to have a new work as beautifully crafted as Welcher's...
"If there's a better Clarinet Concerto by a living composer, I don't know of it...
"On the basis of this work I would say that Welcher is one of the most promising American composers I have ever heard..."
... what I heard was a first movement that was a riot of exotic color and bristling rhythms, a shimmering and introspective second movement and a dashing, pulsating finale."
"Dan Welcher's Piano Concerto was received with thunderous enthusiasm...
"It would be hard to name a more appealing new concerto for any instrument than this one...
"...the craftsmanship is impeccable ...charming work..."
"The music is disarming in its charm and eminently singable."
"The orchestral colors are as spectacular as a Hawaiian volcano, the musical structure is exceptionally tight, and the piece as a whole is a delight to surrender to."
"Welcher's music has a cinematic sweep, with Hawaiian chant-tunes, Polynesian scales, and a battery of native percussion instruments lending an exotic vibrancy to his rich-textured score."
"The two operas Della's Gift and Holy Night offer us intimate examinations of that difficulty (of sustaining real love)...
"A Celebratory Overture for Large Orchestra, written for the Philharmonic by Dan Welcher."
"...he knows how to write vividly and gratifyingly for the orchestra..."
"...an essay in Apollonian-Dionysian contrasts...Love-intoxicated... brims with an interior poetry and fiery lyricism that you somehow don't expect from violin, clarinet and piano."
"...an appealingly moody work that weaves a spell with its ever-changing washes of sound and deeply etched effects
"Mr. Welcher's 14-mintue setting captures the tenderness of the memories and evokes a child's playfulness in lyric music descended from Debussy and Samuel Barber."
"Welcher displays an ease with beautiful music in gorgeous brass ensembles, rich and consonant string passages and multitudes of solo colors."
"Welcher's Fifth is a 21st-century symphony for Austin: urbane, expressive, filled with touches of whimsy and expansively American in its artistic references."
"A refreshing tonic for winter-weary imaginations."
"Welcher's Zephyrus is the real treasure here..."
"The concert opened with what would prove to be its highlight, Zion, a contemporary work by Texas composer Dan Welcher."
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