“Cello Music for Kids” scheduled at Colfax Municipal Building September 19
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — A free 40 to 60 minute cello concert for kids will be performed at the Colfax Municipal Building during the afternoon on September 19.
Nathaniel Pierce, a cellist and tenor, is the director of the String Academy at UW-Eau Claire.
The concert is for children, and people who are still children at heart, according to the Colfax Public Library’s Facebook page.
“Nathaniel has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has been a featured soloist in symphonies and orchestras across the country, and is the founder and director of UW-Eau Claire’s String Academy,” said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library, during the Colfax Public Library’s weekly video update from September 12.
“He will be performing for free. He reached out to us because he wants the Colfax kids to have the chance to be exposed to exciting and fun cello music. We think that is so nice of him, and we hope lots of people will come,” said Jolene Albricht, youth services librarian.
“Grownups, you can come, too. We don’t get many cultural opportunities like this here in Colfax, so let’s please show the university that Colfax can produce an audience for enriching cultural events if they reach out to us,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.
“It’s a good chance to see our beautifully restored auditorium and to hear that auditorium filled with incredible music. And remember, this performance is free and open to everyone, with a special emphasis on children,” Albricht said.
“We hope to see you there. Everyone who comes to Nathaniel’s concert will be making our library hearts very happy,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.
In addition to performing at the Kennedy Center, Pierce has been a featured soloist with the Toledo, Dexter, Dearborn, Albany, Ann Arbor and Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphonies, the Rose Chamber Orchestra as well as with the University of Michigan and Indiana University Symphonies, according to his biography.
He premiered Frank Stemper’s “Good Night Moon” for solo cello and voice written for Pierce in May 2021.
Recent engagements included a solo recital at UW-Eau Claire and Bethel University where he served as Visiting Professor in the spring of 2024, as well a concert of Bach Violin partita transcriptions for violin and continuo with Christine Harada Li and Joseph Gascho at University of Michigan and UWEC.
Pierce is Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival in Alaska. His summer activities have included performing and teaching at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, Bright Chamber Music Festival, Maui Classical Music Festival, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Innsbrook Institute, Ann Arbor Chamber Fest, and the Oberlin Acoustics Workshop. Pierce is a founding member of the Koinonia Piano Trio which has toured in Europe and in the United States.
Prior to founding and being the director of the UW-Eau Claire String Academy, he served on the cello faculty at the University of Michigan Youth Performing Arts Pre-college Program.
He has taught classes at the University of Michigan, Indiana University, University of Minnesota Duluth, Western Illinois University, Ohio University, UW-Stevens Point, UWEC and Missouri State Universities.
Pierce’s students have continued their studies at a wide variety of universities across the country.
The free concert at the Colfax Municipal Building auditorium on Thursday, September 19, begins at 4 p.m.
