Celka Ojakangas is a Los Angeles-based composer whose “work rates high on the bold and beautiful scales” and “takes molecular musical quirks and explodes them, then seizes precious moments of lyricism.” (Columbia Tribune) Her music plays with hybridism and recontextualization, intentionally exploring and blurring the boundaries between culturally-defined genres for a resultant fun and eclectic palette of textures, rhythms, and grooves. Celka gleans her musical ideas from her collaborative work as a violist in symphonies, new music ensembles, jazz bands, and rock bands, always with the intention of bringing creativity and play to the forefront of the listener’s and performer’s experiences.
Celka’s compositions have been premiered and commissioned by many artists including Alarm Will Sound, Music from Copland House, Hocket, Kaufman School of Dance, the Raleigh Symphony, Portland State University Opera, New Opera West, Blackhouse Collective, Bantam Winds, the Thornton Symphony Orchestra, and the Thornton Wind Ensemble. Recent distinctions include the CULTIVATE Copland House Emerging Composer’s Fellowship, Bang on a Can Summer Festival Composer’s Fellowship, the Mizzou International Composer Festival Composer’s Residency, the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award, and Opera America’s Discovery Grant for Female Composers. Active as a composer, conductor, and performer, Celka has also collaborated with musicians at Blackhouse New Music Workshops, the Oh My Ears! Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival Composers’ Symposium.
Celka has a DMA in Composition from the University of Southern California. Former mentors include Donald Crockett, Andrew Norman, Ted Hearne, Sean Friar, Frank Ticheli, Mara Gibson and Carlyle Sharpe. She currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Occidental College and Glendale Community College, and teaches string instruction to children at the Neighborhood Music School in Boyle Heights, CA