Walfrid E. Kujala, age 99, of Evanston, Illinois, passed away on Sunday, November 10, 2024. Born on February 19, 1925, in Warren, Ohio, Walfrid had a distinguished career in music that touched many lives.
Walfrid graduated from Huntington High School in West Virginia in 1942 and went on to earn both a Bachelor of Music (1948) and a Master of Music (1950) from the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music. His professional musical journey began while still in high school, as second flute with the Huntington Symphony Orchestra alongside his teacher, Parker Taylor. His undergraduate education at Eastman was interrupted by his military service in the U.S. Army during World War II from 1943 to 1946. He served in both the European and Pacific theatres while also managing to pursue his musical training in the 86th Infantry Division Band and, after the war ended, in the Manila Symphony Orchestra.
After an honorable discharge from the Army, Walfrid returned to Eastman in 1946. Upon completing his master’s degree in 1950, he joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as second flute alongside his teacher and mentor Joseph Mariano. He accepted the position of assistant principal flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1954, becoming principal piccolo in 1958, a position he held until his retirement in 2001. He served as principal flute for several seasons with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.
Walfrid had a simultaneous career as Professor of Flute at Northwestern University School of Music from 1962 to 2012, profoundly influencing generations of flute students. He contributed to the broader flute community as president of the National Flute Association and as consulting editor for Flute Talk and other music publications. He founded Progress Press in 1970, through which he published solo and chamber music and authored The Flutist’s Progress and The Flutist’s Vade Mecum, among other studies, monographs, and articles.
Walfrid is survived by his loving wife, Sherry (née Henry) Kujala; 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 (née Shank) Kujala. He was preceded in death by his parents, August and Elsie (née Ojajarvi) Kujala, and by his former wife, Alice (née Pillischer) Kujala.
A memorial service will be scheduled for a later date.
Inurnment will be held privately.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, https://cso.org/support/make-a-gift/ or the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, https://www.music.northwestern.edu/donate, in memory of Walfrid’s lifelong musical legacy.
