Veli Kujala: Coral Fantasy

Veli Kujala (b. 1976) studied concert accordion and composition at the Sibelius-Academy receiving his Doctor of Music degree with distinction in 2010. He is a prizewinner of many international competitions for soloists and for composition. His compositional output covers a wide variety of genres ranging from electro-acoustic to orchestral works. His composer portrait CD Hyperorganism (released on Alba Records) was nominated for the best Finnish classical album of the year 2016. In 2020 he was given “The Contemporary Composer of the Year” – award by the Finnish Music Publishers Association. He performs also regularly as an improviser with leading contemporary improvisers.

Coral Fantasy is a 2015 composition for violoncello and live-electronics to which Kujala the following year added a second movement Astral Falcon to form the 2016 composition Fluorescent Crescent. The standalone work as well as the subsequent two-movement work were premiered by cellist Markus Hohti who, with financial support from the Sibelius Fund, commissioned the expanded work and to whom that work is dedicated.