Kari Juusela

Kari Henrik Juusela is a Finnish/American composer, cellist and educator who presently serves as a Dean at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His compositions have won awards in numerous competitions including the 1995 Vienna International Full-Length Opera Competition directed by Claudio Abbado; First Prize, 2005 International Trumpet Guild Composition Competition; First Prize, 2003 International Red Stick Composition Competition; Finalist 2004 Aliénor Harpsichord Composition Contest; First Prize for mixed ensemble, London Chamber Groups 2003 "Piece of the Year Competition"; Second Prize, 2004 San Francisco American Art Song Competition Established Professional Category; First Prize, 1989 GASTA String Quartet Composition Competition; Grand Prize and First Prize in 1998, and five awards in both the 1996 and 1990 Composer's Guild Composition Contests; and more than a dozen awards from ASCAP. His works are often performed internationally by ensembles and organizations including the Cuartetto Latinoamericano, The CORE Ensemble, London Chamber Group, Violin Futura, VnC Duo, Jacksonville Symphony, Moscow Autumn, violinist Beth Newdome, guitarist Stephen Robinson, cellist David Bjella, tenor Stephen Ng, organist and harpsichordist Boyd Jones, Contemporary Composers Forum, College Music Society, The International Trumpet Guild, Florida Electro-Acoustic Festival, Society of Composers Inc., SEAMUS, Southeastern Composers League, and many professional and university orchestras and chamber ensembles.
Juusela’s music is published by ISG Publications, MuusJuus Music and Yelton Rhodes Music. Recordings are available on Beauport Classical, Capstone Records, Lakeside Records, TruTone Records, MuusJuus Music, Berklee Press, Stetson University Recordings and University of Maryland Recordings. He serves as the SCI/ASCAP Student Commission and Competitions Coordinator and as an Executive Board member for the Society of Composers, Inc. and is on the Board of Directors of the Asian Cultural Society of Orlando.