Veli Kujala is an internationally award-winning Finnish accordionist and composer who in 2010 completed a doctorate at the Sibelius Academy on the topic of contemporary Finnish accordion music. He has appeared as soloist with prominent Nordic orchestras (such as Avanti!, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic and UMO Jazz Orchestra) and has premiered both chamber music works and nine concertos – of which four for the microtone accordion that he developed in collaboration with composer Sampo Haapamäki. Kujala is active in jazz and improvisation as well as classical music, and he plays with ensembles such as Gourmet and Sestetto Internazionale.

Kujala’s output as a composer is diverse, ranging from electroacoustic works to orchestral music. His composer profile disc Hyperorganism (2016) was nominated for Disc of the Year of the Finnish Broadcasting Company and for the Classical Emma award. In 2020, the Finnish Music Publishers’ Association awarded him the Classical Composer of the Year prize. As of autumn 2020, Kujala has been lecturer and coordinating teacher in accordion performance at the Sibelius Academy.