Virtuoso Weimar
Improvisation on Accordion and Piano with Veli Kujala and Achim Kaufmann
As part of the Erasmus programme, accordion professor Veli Kujala from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki will be a guest at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar next week. He will be giving improvisation workshops and playing a joint concert with Prof. Achim Kaufmann (pianist and composer, professor of piano (jazz) in Weimar) at 7:30 pm on Monday, 2 December in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus as part of the ‘Virtuoso Weimar’ series. Admission is free!
Under the motto ‘KUUNTELUT’ (Finnish for ‘tunes’), the two musicians create music that combines tradition, innovation and chance in a congenial way. Veli Kujala and Achim Kaufmann have been playing together for many years in the ‘Sestetto Internazionale’, an improvisation ensemble with an unusual instrumentation (two soprano saxophones, violin, turntables/samplers, microtonal accordion and piano).
Instant composing (the musical creation in the moment) is just as important in this music as the discovery of new, unheard sounds. In the duo, the sound mixtures of grand piano and microtonal accordion, but also the gestural-rhythmic actions and interactions of the two players, can be heard in undiluted form, as if under a magnifying glass.
The concert will be complemented by workshops on the topic of improvisation on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 December at 7:30 p.m. in room 304 of the Hochschulzentrum am Horn. The topics of group dynamics in free improvisation and microtonality in improvisation will be the focus of the workshops. Both workshops are open to anyone interested. In addition, Prof. Veli Kujala will be giving a master class for the Weimar accordion class on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Finnish accordionist and composer Veli Kujala studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and graduated with distinction in 2010 with a doctorate in music. Known for his versatility, he has been honoured with prizes at international competitions for his achievements as both a composer and a performer. His compositions range from electroacoustic to orchestral works.
In 2020, Kujala received the Composer of the Year award from the Finnish Music Publishers Association. Active in jazz and improvised music, he regularly performs with groups such as Gourmet and Sestetto Internazionale. As a champion of contemporary music, Kujala has also premiered numerous works by notable composers. He has taught accordion and improvisation at the Sibelius Academy since 2005 and has been head of the accordion department since 2020.
Achim Kaufmann has been active as a pianist and composer since the early 1980s. Among his longest-running projects are the improvising trio Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode, a duo with the Amsterdam-based clarinetist and saxophonist Michael Moore, and the piano trio ‘grünen’ with Christian Lillinger and Robert Landfermann. He has worked with the poet and visual artist Gabriele Guenther on the multidisciplinary ‘Trokaan Project’, among other things, in which aspects of improvised chamber music, poetry texts and fragments and electroacoustic textures come together.
He can also be heard in duos with Ignaz Schick, Yorgos Dimitriadis and Kalle Kalima, as well as in a newly formed trio with Nick Dunston and Mariá Portugal. Achim Kaufmann received the SWR Jazz Prize in 2001 and the Albert Mangelsdorff Prize in 2015. Since 2018, he has held a professorship in piano (jazz) and ensemble at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar.
[27 November 2024]