About

Celebrated for her music's charm and wit, Celka Ojakangas (b. 1992) is an award-winning Los Angeles-based composer who is unafraid to compose music that is both accessible and "out of the box." Her compositions have been performed and commissioned by many artists including USC Thornton’s Wind Ensemble, yMusic, and the Portland State University Opera. Celka is the winner of USC’s 2017 New Music for Wind Ensemble Contest, the honorable mention recipient of IAWM's 2018 Alex Shapiro prize, a finalist for the American Prize's 2018 search for new music for wind band and a finalist for the Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award in the years 2016-2019. She is also a grantee of Opera America's 2019 Discovery Grants for Woman Composers. Celka is presently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Southern California, studying under Ted Hearne. Current and former mentors include Sean Friar, Frank Ticheli, Mara Gibson and Carlyle Sharpe.

Celka is also a violist and teaching assistant of theory and aural skills. Outside of music, Celka loves to draw, make goofy faces and be mom to her pet Lulu, the bare-chested rescue parrot.

Awards:
2019 Hans J. Salter Endowed Music Award
2019 OPERA AMERICA Discovery Grant for Female Composers - Recipient
2019 Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award – Finalist
2018 MetWinds North American Student Composer Competition - Finalist
2018 American Prize: New Music for Wind Band - Finalist
2018 IAWM Alex Shapiro Prize – Honorable Mention  
2018 Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award - Finalist                                       
2017 USC Thornton’s New Music for Wind Ensemble Contest – Winner
2017 Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award – Finalist

Workshops/Festivals
New Opera West – Los Angeles, CA                                                  
Spring 2019
Blackhouse SoCal Intermedia Workshop – Irvine, CA
March 2019
Oh My Ears! Festival – Phoenix, AZ
January 2019
Oregon Bach Festival Composers’ Symposium – Eugene, OR                                 
July 2018
Los Angeles Emerging Artists’ Festival – Los Angeles, CA
February  2018
Palomar Film Music Workshop – Pauma Valley, CA  
June 2014, June  2015
UMKC Composition Workshop – Kansas City, MO    
June 2015