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Jonathon Charles Welch (born 5 October 1958) is an Australian choral conductor, opera singer and voice teacher. As a singer, Welch has been a tenor for the Victoria State Opera, Lyric Opera of Queensland and Opera Australia. During 2006 Welch established The Choir of Hard Knocks comprising homeless and disadvantaged singers from Melbourne. The choir's formation was the subject of a five-part documentary series of the same name televised during mid-2007 on Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In June 2009 on the Queen's Birthday, Welch was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation, "For service to the arts as an operatic performer and vocal coach, and to the community as the founder and musical director of the Choir of Hard Knocks". On 1 April that year he had released his autobiography, ''Choir Man''. ==Biography== Welch grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea. His father, Kenneth Welch, was an engineer born in Sydney to English parents Thomas Archibald and Ella Thrale Welch. His mother, Olive Margaret Hando, was the daughter of Charles and Florence Amelia Hando, farmers from Charlton in rural Victoria. Kenneth and Olive married in 1948 and settled in Melbourne, where Olive worked as a legal secretary. Welch's older sister is Andrea (born c. 1951) and his older brother is Glenn (born c. 1953). They have an adopted younger sister, Elizabeth. Welch attended Ripponlea Primary School. His first job, at eight years old, was selling newspapers directly to motorists. Olive and Andrea sang and played the piano at home, while Kenneth enjoyed listening to opera and Gilbert and Sullivan.〔 At the age of seven or eight, Welch crafted his first public performance – on the stairs to his school's library – a self-adapted version of ''Winnie the Pooh'' and charged his fellow school mates sixpence each. In October 1966 he started piano lessons with Valda Johnstone.〔Welch and Mundell, "Chapter 1: Finding My Voice"〕 As a boy soprano, Welch sang at the local Presbyterian Church, St Margaret's. His parents separated in 1969 and subsequently divorced – the four children remained with Olive.〔Welch and Mundell, "Chapter 2: Singing Through Silence"〕 He completed his secondary education at Melbourne High School and commenced a teaching course at Melbourne State College (which later became a faculty of the University of Melbourne). By 1980 Welch left his teaching course and became a member of the Victoria State Opera chorus as a tenor, making his professional debut in 1981.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Speaker Jonathon Welch )〕 Olive died of lung cancer when he was 23 years old.〔 He performed in the Victorian State Opera's first production of ''The Pirates of Penzance'' (1983).〔 He followed with four years (1984 to 1988) in Brisbane, where he became principal tenor for the Lyric Opera of Queensland while also studying at Queensland Conservatorium of Music.〔 In 1988 Welch joined Opera Australia as a tenor and sang alongside Joan Sutherland at the Sydney Opera House.〔 By 1994 he had founded Tenor Australis with fellow tenor, Gerry Sword.〔 In 1997 he worked with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir and by year's end was their musical director.〔Welch and Mundell, (page ), Retrieved 28 August 2012. "As luck would have it, in 1997 half of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir was heading off to the Gay Games in Amsterdam–and I was invited to assist with rehearsals before the choir's departure, in order to look after the members who ... It was also a time of great exploration and activity; by the end of 1997, I was music director of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir; ...".〕 At the end of 1999 Welch travelled to Canada for a holiday. While there, he read a magazine article about Montreal's Homeless Men's Choir.〔〔 In 2001 Welch formed the Sydney Street Choir – to establish a choir of homeless people for a television project. He also formed or has led other choirs including Geelong Pop Choir and Pop Kidz, Australian Pop Choir, and Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus.〔 In 2003 Welch explained his motivation: In September 2006 Welch created The Choir of Hard Knocks,〔〔 which is made up of homeless and disadvantaged singers from Melbourne, "Welch was compelled to form the choir after reading an article about a choir for homeless people in Montreal". It was funded by RecLink, a non-profit charity and welfare organisation. The process of forming the ensemble was televised on Australian Broadcasting Corporation during mid-2007 as a five-part documentary series of the same name. Also that year, Welch issued a solo album, ''With a Song in My Heart'' on ABC Records. From June to August 2008 Welch was a judge on TV talent competition, ''Battle of the Choirs''. In March 2009 he had a falling out with RecLink and The Choir of Hard Knocks was replaced by Choir of Hope and Inspiration in April.〔 He also started a new community project, THECHO!R, that year. Welch developed another choir, Voices from the Inside, for the November 2009 TV series, ''Jail Birds'', with female inmates of HM Prison Tarrengower. In November 2009, Welch initiated the inaugural Social Inclusion Week "to connect people, encourage participation and form communities".〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Dr. Jonathon Welch AM )〕 Welch was the music director for the KwaYa Uganda project in September 2012 and April 2013. ''Beyond Hard Knocks'', a "where are they now" documentary on the journey of the original Choir of Hard Knocks members and their founding director, was released in September 2013 and shown on GEM TV in November 2014. The inaugural Australian cruise of the performing arts on the in November 2014 included Welch as well as, among others, Cheryl Barker, David Hobson, Colin Lane, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Simon Tedeschi, Elaine Paige, and Marina Prior.〔("Bravo! A Cruise of the Performing Arts" ), Stage Whispers〕 Welch has founded: * The Choir of Hard Knocks which became the Choir of Hope and Inspiration in 2009 * THECHO!R, formed February 2009 * Social Inclusion Week, founded 2009 * Melbourne Festival of Choirs 2010–2012, now the Melbourne International Singers Festival * Sing For a Cure, cancer fundraising concert series launched 2011 * School of Hard Knocks, launched September 2012 * Only Women Aloud, formed September 2012 * Melbourne International Singers Festival and Melbourne Eisteddfod, launched in 2013 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jonathon Welch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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