Veli Kujala (born 1976 in Alahärmä, Finland) is a concert accordionist, composer, and improviser based in Helsinki. He is widely regarded as one of the leading classical accordionists of his generation and a central figure in the development of the quarter-tone accordion. Kujala studied accordion with Matti Rantanen and composition with Harri Wessman and Tapio Nevanlinna at the Sibelius Academy, where he completed a Master of Music in 2004 and a Doctor of Music with distinction in 2010. His doctoral research focused on Finnish contemporary music for accordion. He has been on the faculty of the Sibelius Academy since 2005, and from 2020 has led the accordion department.
As a performer, Kujala has given over 80 world premieres, including 11 concertos. He has appeared as soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony, Britten Sinfonia, and many others, working with conductors including Susanna Mälkki, Jörg Widmann, Hannu Lintu, Anna-Maria Helsing and John Storgårds. His stage credits include Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (2022) and Karolina Eiriksdottir’s opera Lisbeta at Ålandsoperan (2021–22). From 1997 to 2012 he was musician and arranger for children’s and youth productions at the Finnish National Opera, totalling around 600 performances. He has appeared at the BBC Proms, Jazzfest Berlin, Holland Festival, Warsaw Autumn, Eclat Stuttgart, Forum Neuer Musik Cologne, and the International Gaudeamus Week, among many others.
In 2006 Kujala designed the world’s first chromatic isomorphic quarter-tone accordion, built by Pigini, opening new possibilities for microtonal performance and composition. He is also a composer of over 50 works — ranging from solo and chamber pieces to orchestral and electroacoustic music, including microtonal works in 19-, 24-, and 31-tone equal temperament — that have been performed at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Kölner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Bozar Brussels, and Helsinki Music Centre. In 2020, the Finnish Music Publishers Association named him Contemporary Composer of the Year. His portrait album Hyperorganism (Alba Records, 2016) was nominated Best Finnish Classical Album of the Year.
Kujala’s discography spans over 20 releases as soloist, composer, and ensemble member on labels including Alba, BIS, Leo, and DaCapo Records. He is married to organist Susanne Kujala, with whom he frequently performs. Away from the concert hall, Kujala is a practicing magician; a passion since childhood, pursued at the highest level through masterclasses with Paul Daniels and others. It is perhaps not incidental: the same instinct for misdirection, timing, and commanding an audience runs through everything he does on stage.