We are excited to welcome Lyz Jaakola as our 2025 spring Folk Musician-in-Residence in Madison from January 21 to May 1. A life-long resident of Fond du Lac Reservation and an enrolled member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Lyz has been a professional musician since 1990, composing string quartets, blues songs, hand drum songs, children’s musical theater and basic folk as well as recording and teaching. Because of her actions, her community is rediscovering themselves through song and reinforcing community ties.
Lyz earned her BA and MA in Music from the University of Minnesota—Duluth and is now working on a PhD in Ethnomusicology at University of Minnesota—Twin Cities. Lyz teaches music, American Indian studies classes, coordinates a language and culture resource center at the tribal college in Fond du Lac, and volunteers with the Oshkii Giizhik Singers.
Lyz says, “I see this reinvigoration of singing traditions tightening up our relationships while also encouraging us to turn our attentions back to the language, our traditional ways, and many other aspects of being Anishinaabe. In my work, I encourage our people to find their voice, the voice that they had used freely as a child, and nurture its use.”
Lyz has recorded six albums, including Finndian Summer (2005) and Anishinaabekwe Inendamowin (2019) and music for films, videos, and television productions, like for the Emmy-awarded PBS documentary Waasa Inaabidaa (2001). She also authored a bilingual children’s book, Our Journey (2000). In 2019, she worked with Finnish author Katja Kettu and documentary filmmaker Maria Seppäla on Fintiaanit for Helsinki TV station YLE.
She has earned the following awards: 2012 First Peoples’ Fund Community Spirit Award, the 2013 Sally Ordway Irvine Award, the 2014 Geoge Morrison Artist Award, and the 2018 American Indian College Fund Educator of the Year.
Lyz plans to research Ojibwe-Anishinaabe music, especially women’s music, as well as Finnish-American and Ojibwe subculture (aka Finndians) of the Great Lakes region and will be presenting and performing at various classes at the University of Wisconsin—Madison campus.
Check back often for upcoming events and other opportunities involving the residency.