JUNO-nominated Cris Derksen is an internationally respected Indigenous cellist and composer. In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — get labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta, she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Cris braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.

As a composer, Cris has a foot in many worlds; 2020 Compositions include: Napi and the Rock, a symphonic story commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Same Wave, an eight-part choral piece, commissioned by Dead of Winter choir; and The Triumph of the Euro-Christ, an eight-part choral piece commissioned by the Art Gallery of Ontario. 2019 compositions include: Maada’ookii Songlines, a mass choral piece for 250 singers commissioned by Luminato Festival; Rebellion, a short symphonic piece commissioned by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra; Iron Peggy, a theatre piece commissioned by the Vancouver Children’s Festival; and Ikumagiialit, a new performance art piece commissioned by the National Art Gallery of Canada.

As a performer, Cris performs nationally and internationally solo and with some of Canada’s finest, including Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson, to name a few. Recent destinations include Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, and a whole lot of Canada; the place Cris refers to as home.