Cleveland Museum of Art Promotes Thomas Welsh to Director of Performing Arts

CLEVELAND (August 25, 2014) – The Cleveland Museum of Art announced the promotion of Thomas M. Welsh to director of performing arts. In his expanded role, Welsh will be responsible for the design, organization and oversight of the museum’s performing arts series.

“Over the past seven years, Tom has worked tirelessly to broaden the reach of our performing arts programming and raise the profile of our program nationally,” said Fred Bidwell, who served as interim director for the past 10 months. “He has been particularly successful in identifying new talent, expanding our musical offerings and engaging a variety of audiences.”

Welsh joined the museum in 2007 as associate director of music and became director of City Stages last year. His accomplishments have included programming the musical performances at CMA’s annual Solstice event, creating the “Ohio City Stages” global music series and expanding the winter concert series of composed and improvised music at Transformer Station, a converted railway substation in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.

“It is personally and professionally rewarding to see new audiences discover and embrace the many forms of art while experiencing exciting new venues with fellow members of our community,” said Welsh. “I am very pleased to contribute to the city’s continuing rebirth.”

A Philadelphia native and graduate of Colgate University, Welsh has worked in the field of music all of his professional life. His experience and knowledge encompass a broad variety of genres, from classical to contemporary and world music.

He came to Cleveland from Elision Fields: Artist Management and Independent Recordings in San Francisco, where he managed composers and performers. Previously, he managed the classical music label New Albion Records, where he oversaw production for many highly regarded artists.