Music Educator
In 2019, Neea founded the Kulju Piano School with an emphasis on free accompaniment, such as practical skills, improvisation, and composing, within diverse musical genres. The piano school is open to all skill levels and ages. At the moment, the school is on hold due to a full-time working grant for doctoral research at the Sibelius Academy.
Neea holds a Master of Music (2018) from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. In her studies, Neea focused on diverse musical styles and specialized in improvisation. Neea has pedagogical expertise in piano and ensemble pedagogy.
As a Näppäri educator, Neea teaches pianists to play pump organs in Näppäri music courses alongside the founder Mauno Järvelä and other colleagues. The courses have inspired thousands of students since Järvelä started the activity in the 1980s. Inclusive Näppäri practice is internationally recognized and a part of the Kaustinen fiddle playing tradition, inscribed to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021.