Celka Ojakangas is a Los Angeles-based composer originally from southwest Missouri 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 Martin Chalifour with the LA Philharmonic, Alarm Will Sound, Dogs of Desire, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Music from Copland House, Hub New Music, Hocket, the Raleigh Symphony, Portland State University Opera, Blackhouse Collective, Bantam Winds, the Thornton Symphony Orchestra, and the Thornton Wind Ensemble.  Recent distinctions include a premiere with the LA Phil’s Chamber Music Series, Aspen Music Festival’s Composer’s Fellowship, the Gunther Schuller Centennial Third Stream Composition Contest prize, 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, Opera America’s Discovery Grant for Female Composers, and the American Prize for Wind Band. Active both as a composer 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 a Visiting Professor of Music at Occidental College and Glendale Community College.

Awards:
2026 Gabriela Lena Frank Bahlest-Eeble Readings Composer’s Fellowship
2025 Gunther Schuller Centennial Third Stream Composition Contest - Winner
2025 Aspen Music Festival Composer’s Fellowship
2024 CULTIVATE Copland House Emerging Composer’s Fellowshp
2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival Composer Fellowship
2022 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award
2021 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award - Honorable Mention
2020 Mizzou International Composer Festival Residency
2019 Hans J. Salter Endowed Music Award
2019 OPERA AMERICA Discovery Grant for Female Composers
2019 Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award – Finalist
2018-2019 American Prize: New Music for Wind Band
2018 MetWinds North American Student Composer Competition - 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
2025 Aspen Music Festival - Aspen, CO
Summer 2025
2024 I-Park Composers + Musicians Collaborative Residency - East Haddam, CT
August 2024
2024 CULTIVATE by Copland House - Peekskill, NY
June 2024
2024 Blackhouse New Music Workshop - Los Angeles, CA
May 2024
2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival - North Adams, MA
July 2023
2023 Blackhouse New Music Workshop - Los Angeles, CA
March 2023
2022 Blackhouse New Music Workshop - Los Angeles, CA
June 2022
2020/2021 Mizzou International Composer Festival - Columbia, MO
Summer 2020/2021
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