Music for Film and Television
John Welsman is an award winning composer, producer and arranger of music for television and film. Scoring highlights include the television series Road To Avonlea, My Friend Rabbit, The Mighty Jungle. and Franklin and Friends. Television movies include Stolen Miracle, Murder Most Likely, and Borrowed Hearts. And documentary films scored include James Cameron and Simcha Jacobivici’s The Lost Tomb Of Jesus, White Pine Pictures' West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson, and Ric Esther Bienstock's Tales From The Organ Trade.
Music for Film and Television
John Welsman is an award winning composer, producer and arranger of music for television and film. Scoring highlights include the television series Road To Avonlea, My Friend Rabbit, The Mighty Jungle. and Franklin and Friends. Television movies include Stolen Miracle, Murder Most Likely, and Borrowed Hearts. And documentary films scored include James Cameron and Simcha Jacobivici’s The Lost Tomb Of Jesus, White Pine Pictures' West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson, and Ric Esther Bienstock's Tales From The Organ Trade.
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“From ring-tone to film score, creative collaboration typically begins with a conversation.
How does that sound? Let’s talk” - John
Biography
Biography
Ten-time Gemini/Canadian Screen Award nominee, and eight-time Gemini/Genie/Canadian Screen Award winner, John Welsman has been a cornerstone of Canada's film scoring community for almost 3 decades. Career highlights to date include the hit dramatic series “Road to Avonlea”; documentary series “The Nature of Things” with David Suzuki; and James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici’s “The Exodus Decoded” and “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”. He’s also well known for his work with director Ingrid Veninger, most recently for the feature film “Modra”, and for his work in children’s television on such animated series as “Franklin and Friends”, “My Friend Rabbit", “Rainbow Road”, and “The Mighty Jungle”. In total, he has 9 theatrical features, 14 movies for television, 14 television series and over 50 documentaries to his name.
Welsman began his career performing as a singer-songwriter, recording with artists Laura Smith, Available Space, Jane Siberry, and Cherie Camp. Later he would arrange for internationally renowned recording artists: The Canadian Tenors with Sarah McLaughlan (The Perfect Gift), Loreena McKennitt (An Ancient Muse, and The Mask And Mirror), Stephanie Hardy (Brand New Skin) Allanah Myles (I Believe). He co-wrote with Cherie Camp and recorded the self-titled WEA album ‘Cherie Camp’, produced by Gene Martynec). Welsman and Camp won the 2009 Genie Award for ‘Achievement in Music – Original Song’ for ‘Oh Love’, “Nurse.Fighter.Boy”.
Welsman has also worked in advertising, composing music for the Ontario Tourism campaign from 1996-2002. He was commissioned to compose and arrange music for the short film ‘Ontario Our Majesty’, a gift to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in honour of her 2002 Jubilee visit to Ontario.
In 2014 John was honoured with the Canadian Screen Award for his work on “West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson" and in 2015 won again for his score to Ric Esther Bienstock's "Tales From the Organ Trade". Since then, he has twice been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, once for “Painted Land” and most recently for “Where the Universe Sings”.
John resides in and works from his home town of Toronto.
Testimonials
Testimonials
“Working with John Welsman on Vanishing Point was nothing less that completely wonderful. My co-director, Steve Smith, and I, felt understood from our first conversation with John, and the building of the score was such a lovely and exciting exercise in collaborative communication, from start to finish - it was an incredible gift.
We are so very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with John, and so delighted with what he created. He was patient, attentive, inquisitive, open-minded, flexible, diligent and extremely hard-working throughout the process. In short, he possesses all of the qualities one could ask for in a composer and and artistic co-creator.
”
“Exceptional, generous, tuned, curious, masterful ... I have been so grateful to work with John Welsman these past ten years. He is simply one of the very best.”
“It wasn’t just his versatility across different musical genres, or the breadth and depth of his experience that amazed me – it was his curiosity. He asked great questions and really listened until he seemed to have a better idea than I did about what I wanted the score to accomplish. At the same time, he was vigilant about not prioritizing his own artistic impulses above what the film itself needed. The resulting score is absolutely beautiful – at times understated, at other times intense and powerful. It pulls the film together and elevates it in ways and to an extent I honestly did not expect, and had not allowed myself to hope for.”
Awards
Awards
Photo courtesy of G. Pimentel Photography
John Welsman wins the 2014 CSA award for Best Original Music for a Non-Fiction Program or Series for his score for West Wind: the Vision Of Tom Thomson. The film was co-directed by Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont for White Pine Pictures, and the score features the fine musicianship of Winona Zelenka on cello, Anne Lindsay on violin, and Ronan Browne on pennywhistle.
Canadian Screen Award 2014 Best Original Music for a Non-Fiction Program or Series - West Wind: the Vision Of Tom Thomson
MILANO IFF Nomination 2013 Best Music/Song – Tales From The Organ Trade
GENIE Award 2010 Achievement in Music - Original Song for "Oh Love" - Co-written with Cherie Camp – Nurse Fighter Boy
GEMINI Nomination 2009 Best Original Music Score for an Animated Program or Series – My Friend Rabbit
GEMINI Nomination 2003 Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series – The Sacred Balance
GOLDEN SHEAF Nomination 2002 Best Original Music – The Sacred Balance
GEMINI Nomination 2002 Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series - Stolen Miracle
GEMINI Nomination 1999 Best Original Music Score: Program or Mini-Series – Marie Curie: More Than Meets the Eye
GEMINI Nomination 1998 Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series – Borrowed Hearts
GEMINI Award 1996 Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series – Road to Avonlea
GEMINI Award 1995 Best Original Music Score for a Series – Road to Avonlea
GEMINI Nomination 1994 Best Original Music Score for a Series – By Way of the Stars: Arrival at Niagara
GEMINI Award 1994 Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series – The Bellringer
GEMINI Nomination 1993 Best Original Music Score for a Series – Road to Avonlea
GEMINI Award 1992 Best Original Music Score for a Series – Road to Avonlea
GEMINI Award 1990 Best Original Music Score for a Series – Road to Avonlea
GEMINI Nomination 1990 Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series – Looking for Miracles