About

Toronto-based singer-songwriter and voice instructor Kiiola (pronounced Ki-o-la), formerly known as Yukiko Tsutsui, was born and raised in Akita, Japan. Her unique sound blends elements of folk, pop, jazz, and R&B with influences from Japanese music.

Kiiola began playing the piano at the age of eight. Not long after discovering her passion for music, she fell in love with Michael J. Fox in a film and dreamed of living in Canada. After gaining years of experience singing as a member of professional a cappella groups in Tokyo, she decided to move to Canada to pursue her musical career. In 2008, she graduated from the Contemporary Music and Technology program at Selkirk College in Nelson, BC.

From 2007 to 2012, Kiiola hosted her national award-winning radio show, Japanese Musiquest, on Kootenay Co-op Radio in Nelson, BC. The show was syndicated to four stations across Canada.

In 2010, she returned to Japan and established a teaching career specializing in vocals, keyboards, and music theory. During this time, she also composed and recorded music for TV commercials and performed at festivals and events, including as a vocalist/keyboardist for a Japanese Elvis tribute band and alongside jazz musicians.

In 2016, Kiiola relocated to Toronto and quickly immersed herself in the music scene, performing with JUNO Award-winning guitarist Donné Roberts. She was selected to perform the Japanese National Anthem during the Ricoh Woodbine Mile at Woodbine Racetrack in 2018 and 2019, where her performance was broadcast nationally on TSN.

In 2020, during the pandemic, she released her single “Inori”, introducing an authentic Japanese folk melody to the Canadian music scene.

Awards and Honors

Semi-Finalist | 2021 Unsigned Only Music Competition
Semi-Finalist | 2012 & 2013 International Songwriting Competition
Outstanding Achievement Winner | 2010 National Campus and Community Radio Association, for Japanese Musiquest