Ralph Hultgren
Encyclopedia
Ralph Hultgren is an Australia
n trumpet
player and composer.
, Victoria
, Australia
.
Later in his life, after becoming famous for his composition, he was moved to Newmarket
, Queensland
, with his wife Julie and two of his five children.
player in 1970. He has performed with the Central Band of the Royal Australian Air Force, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
, the Australian Brass Choir, and has worked as a freelance musician for the theatre
, opera
, cabaret
and recording studios.
From 1979-1990, Hultgren was composer/arranger in residence for the Queensland Department of Education’s Instrumental Music Program. During this time he produced 185 works for that department. His works have been performed widely within Australia as well as internationally, including the U.S.A., Canada
, Britain
, France
, Switzerland
, Mexico
, Singapore
, Germany
, Hong Kong
, Japan
, Norway
and New Zealand
. Hultgren has been nominated for the prestigious “Sammy and Penguin Awards” for his television
soundtracks, and has twice won the coveted “Yamaha Composer of the Year Award” for his symphonic band works. In 1998 he became the recipient of the “Citation of Excellence,” the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association’s highest honor.
Appointments as a consultant in conducting, composition and music education have taken place in Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan
, the U.S.A., and throughout Australia. Hultgren is Head of Pre-Tertiary Studies at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, where he also directs the Wind Symphony program and lectures in conducting and instrumental pedagogy.
In 2008, he composed a three movement piece for the St Peters Lutheran College Symphonic Winds titled "An Exuberant Triptych" which was premiered at St Stephen's Cathedral in Brisbane, Australia. It was then later performed on numerous occasions during the Symphonic Winds tour of Europe.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player and composer.
Personal life
Hultgren was born in Box HillBox Hill, Victoria
Box Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Whitehorse. At the 2006 Census, Box Hill had a population of 8,616....
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Later in his life, after becoming famous for his composition, he was moved to Newmarket
Newmarket, Queensland
Newmarket is an inner north-western suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located approximately 5 km from the Brisbane central business district and is surrounded by the suburbs of Alderley to the north, Ashgrove to the west, Kelvin Grove to the south, and Wilston to the east...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, with his wife Julie and two of his five children.
Professional career
Hultgren began his professional music career as a trumpetTrumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player in 1970. He has performed with the Central Band of the Royal Australian Air Force, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
, the Australian Brass Choir, and has worked as a freelance musician for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
and recording studios.
From 1979-1990, Hultgren was composer/arranger in residence for the Queensland Department of Education’s Instrumental Music Program. During this time he produced 185 works for that department. His works have been performed widely within Australia as well as internationally, including the U.S.A., Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Hultgren has been nominated for the prestigious “Sammy and Penguin Awards” for his television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
soundtracks, and has twice won the coveted “Yamaha Composer of the Year Award” for his symphonic band works. In 1998 he became the recipient of the “Citation of Excellence,” the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association’s highest honor.
Appointments as a consultant in conducting, composition and music education have taken place in Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, the U.S.A., and throughout Australia. Hultgren is Head of Pre-Tertiary Studies at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, where he also directs the Wind Symphony program and lectures in conducting and instrumental pedagogy.
In 2008, he composed a three movement piece for the St Peters Lutheran College Symphonic Winds titled "An Exuberant Triptych" which was premiered at St Stephen's Cathedral in Brisbane, Australia. It was then later performed on numerous occasions during the Symphonic Winds tour of Europe.
Among his Works
- And Enoch Walked With God
- Beyond The Frontier
- Bushdance
- Celebration Of Life
- Eminence
- Grand March-The Australian Land
- Immortal! Invisible!
- Jessie's Well
- Many Paths (Millen Kulgun)
- Moto Perpetuo
- Pageant
- Pioneers
- Whirr, Whirr, Whirr!!!
- An Exuberant Triptych
- Masada
- The Hornets Nest
- Concert Prelude
- Festal Intrada