Elizabeth “Lyz” Jaakola performs and discusses original compositions in a range of musical genres encompassing her dual Anishinaabe and Finnish American experiences.
Jaakola is an Anishinaabe/Finnish American and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa member. An experienced music educator, activist, and musician, she serves on the Cloquet City Council, performs regularly for public media and festivals, and has recorded six CDs, had her music in local film, video and television, including the Emmy-awarded PBS documentary, Waasa Inaabidaa, mentored Native youth in music composition, and published children’s literature. Her 2005 album, Finndian Summer, focused especially on mixed heritage. More recently, Lyz found great pleasure helping Finnish author, Katja Kettu and documentarian, Maria Seppäla with a documentary, “Fintiaanit” produced for Helsinki YLE in 2019 from a book they published in 2016 with photographer, Meeri Koutaniemi. Trips back and forth from Minnesota and Finland were very satisfying and informative building further Finndian connections!
Co-sponsored by Finn Fest USA and the Nordic Folklife project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the music series features noted performers and scholars of Finnish-American folk music. Register at the link below for this and future events. Links to the virtual program will be sent to your registered email address one day in advance of the event.
RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/LfRk6dM7o7WMB3B66
Although this event is free and open to anyone who can and wants to take part, we do hope you will consider donating to the Finn Fest USA organization, whose hard work and dedication makes events like this possible. If you have the ability to donate any amount of money to Finn Fest to support future programming, please visit their donation page here: https://finnfest.us/festival-financing. Thank you for your generosity.
