Walfrid Kujala

Walfrid Kujala (February 19, 1925 – November 10, 2024) was an American flutist, piccolo player, teacher, and writer.

He was born in Warren, Ohio on February 19, 1925. In high school, he studied with Parker Taylor and played second flute to Taylor in the Huntington Symphony Orchestra, then studied with Joseph Mariano at the Eastman School of Music. He played second flute and piccolo with Mariano in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1948 until 1952.

Kujala was assistant principal flute in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1954 until 1957 and then piccolo in the orchestra from 1957 until 2002. He also was principal flute in the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra from 1955 until 1960.

One hundred fifty of Kujala's students commissioned Gunther Schuller to compose his Flute Concerto to honor Kujala's sixtieth birthday, and Kujala played the world premiere with Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on October 13, 1988. John von Rhein wrote, "If one responds most readily to the haunted, glissandi-rich slow movement and to Schuller`s witty finale for flute and piccolo, this is not to deny the effectiveness of the piece as a whole, or the virtuosity with which Kujala and Solti realized it."

Walfrid Kujala taught hundreds of students at Northwestern University from 1962 until 2012 and wrote dozens of articles for The Instrumentalist magazine, Flute Talk, and The Flutist Quarterly. In 1970, he founded Progress Press, which distributed his publications.

Kujala served as the founding secretary and later president of The National Flute Association. The National Flute Association honored Kujala with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

Walfrid Kujala died on November 10, 2024, at the age of 99. "Embellishment Italian Style," Flute Talk (October 1988), 12–14; originally in The Instrumentalist (December 1976). "The 5 W's of the Major Scale," The Instrumentalist. "Flute Fingerings, In Homage to Henri Altès," Flute Talk (March 1992), 8–13; originally in The Instrumentalist (November 1981). "Flutists' Common Mistakes," Flute Talk (October 1993), 27–28. "Fresh Ideas for Mozart Cadenzas," Flute Talk (December 1995), 12–15, musical example corrected in Flute Talk (January 1996), 31. "A Guide to Trill Choices in the Mozart G Major Concerto," The Flutist's Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology (National Flute Association, 1998). "I Have a Flute Dream! (to wit: A Smart Flute With Apps!)," FQ Plus (March 5, 2012),FQ Plus (September 2, 2014)