Mali Obomsawin Quartet

Mali Obomsawin, from Odanak First Nation, is a multifaceted artist known for her prowess as a bassist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Recognized as one of Grammy.com’s top ten emerging jazz artists to watch in 2023, Obomsawin stands out among the vibrant community of Indigenous jazz artists. Reflecting on her journey, they say, “my people have had to innovate endlessly to get our stories heard… but sometimes words fail us, and we must use sound.” 

A multi-disciplinary musician blending jazz, folk, and more, offstage Obomsawin is also a writer and educator with Sunlight Media Collective, a Wabanaki-driven media team, to promote stories at the intersection of environmental justice and tribal sovereignty. They are also an advocate and community organizer for Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and the landback movement. She is the founder of Bomazeen Land Trust, an organization dedicated to rematriating Wabanaki ancestral lands, and preserving cultural, medicinal, and agricultural traditions.

Mali Obomsawin created the original score for the widely-acclaimed 2024 documentary Sugarcane, a film by Emily Kassie & Julian Brave NoiseCat, produced by National Geographic Documentary Films. The film, nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards, confronts the legacy of abuses of Indigenous children at a residential school in British Columbia. She received nominations for Best Original Music Score at the International Documentary Association Awards, and was nominated by the Cinema Eye Honors Awards (USA) for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score, and shared a collective nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking.

The 9:00 PM performance of Mali Obomsawin Quartet is generously supported by
Margaret & Michael Simon.

Additional support is provided by the Amy Lam Fund for Creative Performance.

This performance is made possible in part by support from Celebrity Series' LIVE PERFORMANCE! Arts for All Innovation Funds.