Remembering Walfrid Kujala

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family mourns the loss of Walfrid Kujala, who served as flute and piccolo from 1954 until 2001. He died in Evanston, Illinois, on November 10, 2024, at the age of 99.

Born on February 19, 1925, in Warren, Ohio, Kujala grew up in Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he started flute lessons when he was in the seventh grade. (His father, a bassoonist, steered him to the flute in order to “save him” from the headaches of reed making.) While attending high school in Huntington, West Virginia, he studied with Parker Taylor, principal flute of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra, and played second flute with the ensemble from 1939 until 1942.

Kujala attended the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Joseph Mariano, principal flute of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. His college career was interrupted by two and a half years of military service in the U.S. Army, serving in the 86th Infantry Division Band from 1943 until 1946. During his tour of duty in the Philippines, after the end of hostilities, Kujala was briefly a member of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. From Eastman, he received his bachelor of music degree in 1948 and a master’s degree in 1950, and he was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic under Erich Leinsdorf from 1948 until 1954. Kujala also served on Eastman’s faculty from 1950 until 1954.

In 1954, sixth music director Fritz Reiner hired Kujala as assistant principal flute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and in 1957, he became principal piccolo, serving in that capacity until 2001. During his tenure, he performed under four music directors: Reiner, Jean Martinon, Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. He also served as principal flute of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra from 1955 until 1960.

As a soloist, Kujala appeared with the Orchestra under Reiner, Solti, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Janigro and Lawrence Foster. He also soloed at the Stratford and Victoria festivals in Canada, as well as in recital, chamber music concerts and master classes across the United States.

Kujala joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 1962 and taught there for 50 years, retiring in 2012. In honor of his 60th birthday, his students and colleagues commissioned a flute concerto from Gunther Schuller, and Kujala was soloist in the world premiere with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Solti on October 13, 1988. On August 19, 1990, he was soloist in the U.S. premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Concerto for Flute under Kurt Redel at the National Flute Association convention in Minneapolis. The Chicago Flute Club’s biennial international piccolo competition is named in his honor.

The author of The Flutist’s Progress and The Flutist’s Vade Mecum, Kujala also regularly contributed articles and editorials to several publications, including The Instrumentalist, Flute Talk, Music Journal and Woodwind World. He was a founding board member and founding secretary of the National Flute Association, where he also served as president, vice president and board chairman. In August 1997, the NFA honored him — along with his longtime CSO colleague Donald Peck — with its lifetime achievement award.

In his retirement, Kujala was a member of the CSO Alumni Association, serving on the board of directors for many years.

Kujala is survived by his beloved wife Sherry. He was preceded in death by his former wife Alice and is also survived by their children Stephen Kujala, Gwen Stein (Mark) and Daniel Kujala (Lisa); grandchildren Nicole Zavala, Delilah Kujala (Adam), Nathan Stein, Katherine Stein and Clara Stein; great-grandchildren Eduardo Jr., Ava, Max and Penelope Zavala; and former daughter-in-law Delilah Kujala. 

Burial will be private, and details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in his memory.

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