West Irondequoit CSD music teacher Patty Welch has been selected to receive one of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Musicians' Awards for Outstanding Music Educators. The award will be presented to her at the RPO concert on Thursday, March 16th. Ms. Welch is an instrumental music teacher for grades 7-12.
“Patty is so deserving of this prestigious honor,” said Mr. Steven Zugelder, the district’s K-12 Coordinator for Music and Performing Arts. “She looks for the best in every child, finds a way to connect with them and inspire them to want to do more. Patty never gives up on kids.”
This honor is given to select area teachers who inspire their students to make music a crucial part of their school experience and to help them become lifelong consumers of music. Ms. Welch has helped countless young people meet their musical ambitions, and she has done so through enormous gifts of her own time and talents, often outside of school hours. The Muncie, Indiana, native is in her 30th year as an educator and has taught in West Irondequoit since 1993.
She earned her Bachelor’s degree in music education and performance and her Master’s in music education from the Eastman School of Music. In 1998, she founded the IHS chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society and remains the club advisor. She has served as Public Relations Coordinator and President of the Monroe County School Music Association and is a NYSSMA adjudicator for Solo and Ensemble Festivals.
She is a member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association and serves as the K-12 representative on the official Standard Literature List Committee for the ITEA. Ms. Welch has collaborated with the music therapy team at the Mary Cariola Children’s Center and with the Dagara Music Center outside of Accra, Ghana in efforts to expose her students to musical experiences outside of the “band world.” She has performed with the Vermont Wind Symphony and the following Music Educator’s Wind Ensembles: Greater Rochester, Eastman Community School, and Central Winds. She also has performed with the Penfield Symphony Orchestra and last fall performed with the Greater Rochester Women's Philharmonic as part of festivities for the National Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Seneca Falls.
Ms. Welch lives in Fairport where she fosters for Lollypop Farm and can often be found on the canal, walking, biking or rowing with the Rochester Boat Club. The district and, in particular, the West Irondequoit Music Department is proud of Ms. Welch for receiving this richly deserved honor.