A Life In Music

Wally Kujala, A Life in Music, watercolor, 22x30"

This is a commissioned portrait of the wonderful musician Walfrid Kujala, longtime flutist and solo piccoloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was commissioned from the music faculty of Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music in Chicago. I surrounded Wally with many meaningful things from his life (a portrait of him as a boy with his bassoonist Dad, his beloved cat Arvo, a specially designed crossword puzzle, etc.) and fifty years! of teaching at the University...the multitude of etude books he has written and published, his longtime studio - room 258, music of Vivaldi and Shostakovich...a joyful tribute to a master teacher and performer.