A Concert of Recent Works for Solo Cello
with cellist Craig Hultgren Here is Michael Huebner's review: Huebner Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 7 pm
On Sunday, March 30th at 7 pm, Craig Hultgren will play a solo program of recent compositions for the cello at Artburst at the Unitarian Universalist Church. This concert of solo pieces will feature amplification, digital sound effects, audio soundfile playback, a computer score-reading tablet and a world premiere. Nearly all of the pieces were written for Hultgren.

The program presents the premiere of a joint commission for Cleveland composer Andrew Rindfleisch.  The creation of his Quiet Music for solo cello was made possible by the Mandel Foundation through the Birmingham Art Music Alliance.  Rindfleisch’s work was commissioned by three other cellists in addition to Hultgren: Madeleine Shapiro from New York, David Russell from Boston and Jonathan Golove from Buffalo.  The concert features a piece by another Ohio composer - Chiaroscuro for cello & electroacoustic music written last year by Mikel Kuehn from Bowling Green State University. The program also includes music by Alabama composers including Bare ruin’d choirs… by James A. Jensen from Samford University, Sans Titre V for amplified cello by William Price from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Combustion by Mary Elizabeth Neal.  She graduated from Birmingham-Southern College and is completing her master’s degree in music composition from Florida State University. Combustion is the winner of the 2008 MTNA Composition Competition in the Young Artist Division and will be performed by Hultgren at the AMTA National Convention in Denver in April.  The program will be rounded out by one of Hultgren’s own free-style improvisations and a piece titled Elegy by another Alabama composer, Amy Canada.

Craig Hultgren is an activist for new music, the newly creative arts, and the avant-garde.  He has been a member of Thámyris, a contemporary chamber music ensemble in Atlanta.  A long-time cellist in the Alabama Symphony, he also played in the Chagall Trio.  He is currently active with Luna Nova, a contemporary music ensemble with over seventy recordings available for free downloading on iTunes.

The Unitarian Church is located in west Homewood off of Valley Avenue at 4300 Hampton Heights Drive.  For more information, contact .  Admission to this concert $6 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.