Sitting at the piano alongside international piano legend Lang Lang, Alisdair Welty ’25, felt the weight of the moment settle upon him. He knew this was a once in a lifetime experience.
It was a moment he had been working toward since he was three. While most typical three-year-olds were playing with puzzles and Play-Doh, Alisdair was practicing his scales and learning to play the piano. But there isn’t anything typical about Alisdair, who comes from a family with a long history in classical music. He was desperate to make music at that very early age, and so he learned to play. He calls playing the piano an integral part of his identity and culture.
In May, Alisdair was one of a select group of young pianists from Northeast Ohio chosen to perform with Lang Lang, in a unique event that was held in only five other cities in the United States. The performance took place at the metropolitan campus of Cuyahoga Community College.
The program, 101 Pianists, is the brainchild of Lang Lang, an internationally renowned Chinese concert pianist known for his technical and engaging performances. The 101 Pianists program premiered in 2009, and has continued to grow over the years. The student pianists performed two musical selections with the virtuoso, Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor and Schubert’s Marche Militaire No. 1, Op. 51.
According to Alisdair, one of the things that made this event unique was that pianists are generally solo musicians, and most had never been conducted before. He says that was the largest hurdle in putting everything together. He laughed, “At one point in the rehearsal, half of us were in one tempo, and the other half were in another.”
The most amazing part of the experience for Alisdair was getting to shake Lang Lang’s hand and talk to him afterward.
Alisdair prides himself in being primarily a classical organist and plans to attend conservatory and pursue a Bachelor of Music in classical organ performance after high school. Although he is thoroughly invested in all classical music, the music of Cesar Franck and Modest Mussorgsky have special significance to him, and he would like to focus on those two composers.
According to Dan Hamlin, M.M.Ed, Director of Instrumental Music at Saint Ignatius, “Beyond just performance, Alisdair has shown an interest in the inner workings of music. He's put himself in a position to really learn the music beyond the performance. These are the things that set great musicians apart from the good ones. I'm excited to see where his performance career takes him. I don't think it's a stretch to envision Alisdair playing an organ concerto with a major orchestra in the near future. The sky's the limit for him” added Hamlin.
Music can be a channel for more than just enjoyment, it can also be used to promote justice according to Alisdair. He has had the opportunity to work with some amazing musicians who use their platform to bring awareness to and start conversations about issues of social justice, particularly civil rights and women’s issues.
With his talent, passion and drive, Alisdair Welty is an Ignatian we will surely continue to hear about in the future.