Edwin Huizinga and William Coulter at Luthier Collective

Last night (September 11, 2026), I went to a show by violinist Edwin Huizinga and guitarist William Coulter at Luthier Collective here in Somerville.

Among their other activities, Edwin teaches baroque violin at Oberlin College and Conservatory, and William teaches classical guitar at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Together, they call their duo Fire & Grace.

I copied a publicity photo of the duo from one of their websites. Edwin has since had his hair cut very short.

Publicity Photo of William Coulter (Left) and Edwin Huizinga (Right)

The two musicians were in town for the Rockport Celtic Music Festival at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, and they squeezed in an extra performance at Luthier Collective.

Through the years, the two have been adapting Antonio Vivaldi’s four violin concerti, The Four Seasons, such that the orchestral score is condensed into a part for a single acoustic guitar.

The duo opened the first half of their show with an adaptation of the prelude from a Bach cello suite, followed by “Spring” and “Summer” from The Four Seasons. In the second half they played “Fall,” three Bulgarian dances, and “Winter”.

Albums by Edwin Huizinga and William Coulter include:

Fire & Grace (2016)
Partita Americana (with Ashley Broder; 2019)
Alma (2023)

During the performance, I was admiring William’s beautiful guitar. According to his website, William plays a Brazilian Rosewood Custom Meridian six-string acoustic guitar by guitar maker Mike Baranik.