Teachers


Geir Draugsvoll
Geir Draugsvoll is internationally considered to be one of the most important musicians on his instrument, the bayan.Through collaborations with many composers, Geir Draugsvoll must also be characterized as one of the pioneers on this young instrument, and he has premiered a large number of works. This includes "Fachwerk" by Sofia Gubaidulina, which is dedicated to Geir Draugsvoll, and today widely acclaimed as one of her most important works for classical accordion.
He has performed all over the world in festivals and concert-arenas like Concertgebouw (Holland), Alte Oper Frankfurt (Germany), Barbican Hall (London), Mariinsky Hall (Skt. Petersburg), Gasteig (Munich) and as a solosit with orchestras such as London Symphony Orchestra, Münchener Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Maggio Musicale Firenze, Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra - with conductors like Valery Gergiev, Donald Runnicles, Vasily Petrenko, Andres Mustonen, Joana Carneiro, Marc Soustrot, Yuri Bashmet and many more.
Geir Draugsvoll has performed in national and international TV and radio a nomerous of times, and recorded many CDs with well known labels such as Naxos, EMI, BIS, Delos, Simax and many more.


Veli Kujala
Veli Kujala (b. 1976) studied concert accordion and composition at the Sibelius Academy and received his Doctor of Music -degree with distinction in 2010. He is a prizewinner of many international competitions for soloists and composers. He has premiered over 70 works and performed throughout Europe at major festivals and venues. He also performs regularly as an improviser with leading contemporary improvisers. His compositional output covers a wide range of genres, from electro-acoustic works to orchestral works. His composer portrait CD ‘Hyperorganism’ (Alba Records) was nominated for the best Finnish classical album in 2016. 2020 The Finnish Music Publishers Association gave him The Composer of the Year Award for Art Music. Since 2020, he has been Head of the Classical Accordion Department at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki.