Cris Derksen

2016 Instrumental Album Juno Nominee, Cris Derksen is an Indigenous cellist/composer known for building layers of sound into captivating performances. Her music braids the traditional and contemporary in multiple dimensions, weaving her traditional classical training and her Aboriginal ancestry with new school electronics, creating genre-defying music.

Derksen obtained a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance at the University of British Columbia and shared the title of Principal Cellist with the UBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2009 she was recognized by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network as one of its rising stars and The Georgia Straight’s “Who to Watch”.

Orchestral Powwow (2015), Derksen’s 3rd studio album responds to a perceived need to truly incorporate Indigenous artists in art that claims Indigenous credit.