By Denise Lana,
Northeast Iowa’s Oneota Valley Community Orchestra is marking its tenth anniversary this year. The group returned to the stage this month for its first concert of the season.
The 65 volunteer professional and virtuoso musicians who make up the OVCO performed Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Decorah High School Auditorium. The ensemble opened this year’s season with Russian Sailor’s Dance from “The Red Poppy” composed by Reinhold Glire, followed by Concerto in A Minor by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, featuring guest artist Miko Kominami, a piano instructor at Luther and Juilliard School graduate. Wrapping up the performance was Symphony No. 1 “The Lord of the Rings” by J. De Meij.
“There are so many different ways to listen to music — nostalgic, analytical, metaphorical,” cellist and Iowa native Craig Hultgren said, later adding,“Although not all music is as identifiable, The Lord of the Rings is highly programmatic. You can listen and sort of put yourself in the atmosphere.”
Matthew Cody, assistant music director for Decorah Community Schools since 2009, founded the orchestra in 2014, and was joined by Hultgren a year later. Hultgren retired in 2015 from a 30-plus year career with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and moved to Decorah to become a self-professed “farmer-cellist.” He is currently the orchestra’s principal cellist and is the president of the orchestra’s board.
Hultgren, who has played at Carnegie Hall and travelled globally, is impressed with the talent of the musicians in the orchestra, even compared to modern orchestras which contain anywhere from 100 to 120 players.
“For a town the size of ours to be able to put together a 65-piece orchestra of different instruments is a remarkable thing,” Hultgren said. “We compare favorably to the artistic quality of community orchestras across the country.”
Hultgren said he knew he loved music ever since third grade, when his music teacher placed a cello in front of him.
“I harken back to the education system in the state, and how strong music was,” he said. “Decorah has had and still maintains a strong music program. The music department at Luther College is the biggest department by enrollment and budget at the school.”
Hultgren feels the broader region is a hot bed of musical talent and strong artistic voices, often hidden from public view behind full-time jobs and life responsibilities.
“So many talented members of our orchestra are professors and teachers, farmers and students. Music is the common voice that unites them,” Hultgren said. “It’s especially true here — there are so many creative types, this town is just a hidden artist colony, expanding well beyond the confines of our education system.”
Organizers said the northeast Iowa orchestra, and others like it, have grown in popularity and are bridging the community through music.
“When the orchestra started in 2014, we might have had 99 people attend the performance,” said Elisabeth Rosales, Hultgren’s wife and administrator of the OVCO program. “Today, we have 300 people or even more turning out to each show. Most of the crowd used to be senior citizens, but now we are seeing more and more younger faces in the audience.”
The musical program for Sunday’s performance was designed to challenge the audience, spark conversation and allow the audience members to experience and hear music in different ways, Hultgren said. He is hoping the music will inspire more people to attend performances this season — he’s so confident in the music and the orchestra that he has set a challenge for public attendance.
“I want to have 5 percent of Decorah’s population — around 400 people — attend at least one of our concerts this season … that would be wonderful,” Hultgren said. “Music is a great social tool, and I want to get people talking about our concerts the day after or the week after.”
Hultgren admits those conversations may not be strictly praise for the performances, but he hopes attendees will allow themselves to be moved by the music in one way or another.
“Music is provocative, and it really needs to be active in the bloodstream,” Hultgren said. “The sound of resonating tones — that handmade sound — is wilder than anything coming through a speaker in your car or at your home. It really is a magical thing, from ancient man strumming a string on a stick to people gathering and making a lot of vibrations together. Those vibrations that can reach the very depths of our souls, those are provocative. As a musician, I just want to give listeners the opportunity to expand their ears.”
Craig Hultgren (front), is the orchestra’s principal cellist for the orchestra and president of its board of directors. Hultgren is an award-winning cellist who spent 33 years with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Among his extensive resume, Hultgren has taught at the University of Alabama and Wartburg College and was a founding member and former president of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance. He spent a decade producing the Hultgren Solo Cello Works Biennial international competition and is currently the secretary for the Iowa Composers Forum Board of Directors. (Photo by Denise Lana)
2025 Schedule
E.T. Flying Theme – John Williams
Alien Suite – Jerry Goldsmith
Apollo 13 – James Horner
Star Trek Into Darkness – Michael Giacchino
Star Wars Suite – John Williams
Light Cavalry Overture – von Suppé
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis – Vaughan Williams
Karelia Suite – Sibelius
Capriccio Espagnol – Rimsky Korsakov
Overture – Jessie Montgomery
Variations on a Theme by Haydn- Brahms
Symphony No. 2 “Romantic” – Howard Hanson
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