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Veli Kujala (Concert accordionist, composer) |
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Veli Kujala gained his Master of Music degree at the Sibelius Academy in 2004 with highest honors. He is a prize-winner of many international soloist and concert accordion competitions, including first prize in the International Lasse Pihlajamaa Competition in Tampere 2001 and fourth prize in the International Gaudeamus Competition for interpreters of new music in Rotterdam 2001. As a composer he has also been awarded second prize in the international composition contest organized by the London Accordion Festival in 2001 and the public prize in the Brussels Jazz Orchestra Composition Contest in 2003. He has performed as a soloist with ensembles including the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Avanti!, the Kymi Sinfonietta and the Pori Sinfonietta. He plays regularly in the latin jazz band Pipoka, the experimental jazz group Gourmet and the Pekka Pohjola Band. As an arranger he has worked with Finnish National Opera and in many different music theatre productions. He has performed in numerous festivals in almost all European countries and in the USA. Veli Kujala has worked with contemporary composers such as Kalevi Aho, Pasi Lyytikäinen, Pekka Pohjola, Uljas Pulkkis, Daping Qin, Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Tomi Räisänen, Vesa Valkama, Olli Virtaperko, Lauri Toivio and Helmut Zapf to widen the concert accordion repertoire. Since 2005 Veli Kujala has been teaching accordion playing at the Sibelius-Academy.
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BIOGRAPHY
REVIEWS
In English
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