His works have been performed widely within Australia as well as internationally, including the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway and New Zealand.
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., and throughout Australia.
Hultgren is currently[update] Head of Pre-Tertiary Studies at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University,[3] where he also directs the Wind Symphony program and lectures in conducting and instrumental pedagogy.
In December 2013, during a performance of Hultgren's A Queensland Set at the 67th annual Midwest Clinic, a wunderkind and young violist accidentally made a large and obnoxious percussive noise by striking his viola on a nearby cymbal.