2020 (Virtual) Birmingham New Music Festival Kicks Off Tonight

This year’s Birmingham New Music Festival will be a virtual event featuring five concerts streamed online. The series kicks off tonight with a concert by pianist Chris Steele co-presented by the Hoover Library’s Live From My Living Room series.

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Craig Hultgren will play the next concert on August 30 at 5:00pm. The concert stream will be at https://youtu.be/TMfXmS_yfAE Craig will perform a piece I wrote for him: Snakeskin (verso) for ecello and live electronics.

Check the festival website for links to the other upcoming concerts.

Hultgren Premeires Snakeskin (verso)

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Craig Hultgren will premiere my work Snakeskin (verso) for cello and live electronics tonight at Georgia State.

Tuesday, October 15 at 7:30pm
Florence Kopleff Recital Hall
15 Gilmer St SE
Atlanta GA, 30303

neoPhonia is presenting Craig in a program of contemporary music for solo cello. The concert includes works by three Georgia State faculty: Nickitas Demos, Robert Scott Thompson, and Marc LeMay.

Hultgren Revisits Nine Islands

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Cellist and improviser Craig Hultgren will perform my Nine Islands, Nine Dialects for cello and speaking cellist as part of a retrospective concert presented by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance.

Wednesday February 4 7:30pm
Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents
Hultgren Cello Retrospective
Moonlight on the Mountain
Birmingham AL

It’s hard for me to believe this piece is more than 20 years old. I wrote it while living abroad as a fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, and I wrote it especially for Craig to perform. His support and encouragement was so important for me as a young composer as was the experience working alongside him in the newly-formed Birmingham Art Music Alliance. Craig premiered the piece at one of the first concerts presented by BAMA, and this will be one of his last BAMA concerts as a Birmingham resident. Craig will also perform pieces by Michael Angell, Edwin Robertson, James A. Jensen, Brian C. Moon, William Price, Monroe Golden, Bryan Page and Mark A. Lackey.

PLAY – New and Improved Improv on Saturday

Thollem McDonas, photo: Peter Gannushkin

LaDonna Smith has organized another jam-packed evening of improvised music with a host of special guests, featuring pianist Thollem McDonas.

Saturday, September 22 7:30pm
PLAY – New and Improved Improv
Homewood Community Center – CDF
1715 27th Court South
Homewood AL
$10/$5 students (sliding scale) kids free

Thollem will perform solo and with Stella Nystrom, dance; Davey Williams, guitar; Craig Hultgren, cello; Andrew DeWar, saxophone. Also on the bill are Hunter Bell, Si Reasoning, myself and LaDonna Smith. Dianne McNaron will preview her upcoming Marlene Dietrich retrospective and Caroline Karson will play Chopin. Come early and stay late, there’ll be lots to take in.