Lisa Jakelski

Lisa Jakelski is a Researcher in Academic Affairs at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. Her work intersects social and political practices with music-making post-1945, focusing on Cold War cultural politics, new music institutions, and Polish musical life.

• Education: Ph.D. in Music History and Literature from UC Berkeley, AB in Music and English from University of Georgia

Her research examines the Warsaw Autumn Festival (1956–1968), earning recognition through awards like the Kulczycki Book Prize. She co-edited Lutosławski’s Worlds, challenging the composer’s preference for separating life and works.

Recent scholarship explores East-Central European musical cultures, with publications in The Journal of Musicology, Twentieth-Century Music, and East European Politics and Societies. Her 2023 article on Lithuanian music at the Warsaw Autumn highlights transnational cultural exchanges.

Selected honors include:

• Polish Composers’ Union Honorary Award
• Aquila Polonica Article Prize
• NEH Summer Stipend (2013)

At Eastman, she teaches courses on twentieth-century music, East-Central European music, and Cold War-era musical contexts. Her advising spans interdisciplinary topics like queer representation in hip-hop and Soviet sound technology.