The world of Canadian classical and Indigenous music was left reeling over the weekend with the untimely death of cellist and composer Cris Derksen. The Cree composer was killed in a car crash near Slave Lake inn Northern Alberta as she was leaving her father’s funeral.
The 45 year old musician was involved in a head-on collision on Highway 44, a notorious stretch of road according to RCMP. High speed was said to be a factor in the accident, which occurred when a northbound SUV crossed the centre line and struck the vehicle Derksen was traveling in.
Derksen’s wife Bobby Benson is still in critical condition in hospital.
pinâskiw (“The Season of Falling Leaves”) by Cris Derksen, performed by Junior and Senior Strings of the University of Toronto schools:
Cris was a force to be reckoned with in the Canadian classical music landscape. Her work combined her Cree heritage with Western classical idioms and electronic elements to create a unique voice and body of work.
At LV, I had the pleasure and privilege of speaking with Cris and writing about her work on multiple occasions, most recently regarding her concert with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra.
The piece that was showcased in that concert, Controlled Burn, beautifully illustrates her work and approach. The title refers to a traditional Indigenous practice of burning dry brush in a controlled manner, a practice that created organic ashes which fertilized the land and prevented forest fires — and which was legislated out of existence by settler governments who didn’t understand how to look after the woodlands they’d taken over.
In the composition, the cello soloist, performed by Derksen herself, enhanced by electronic effects pedals, and both the cello and bass section using a col legno technique to create a sound that emulates the roar of a forest on fire.
She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024 with Orchestre Metropolitan and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performing Controlled Burn.
Cris Derksen performs in Halifax, NS in 2023:
Cris Derksen
Cris Derksen was born on Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta. On her father’s side, she comes from a long line of chiefs from the North Tall Cree Reserve, and on her mother’s side, from Mennonite homesteaders.
The two-spirit composer and musician earned a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance at the University of British Columbia, but knew she wanted to use the instrument in ways that went beyond conventional classical training.
“When I was going to university, I knew that I had to be a good cellist to play my own music,” Derksen said in an interview with LV. “I didn’t take composition at all. I didn’t want to get overly influenced.”
Cris added electronic elements to make the music more accessible, and performed and collaborated with a wide range of artist from Inuit superstar Taya Tagaq to rock bands.
In recent years, her work has been performed by orchestras and classical ensembles across Canada and beyond. Derksen’s music was commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Thunder Bay Symphony, and Orchestre Métropolitain, among others. She served as composer for the Canadian Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka in 2025.
She performed across the globe, including recent concerts in Asia, Europe,Australia, Norway, and Chile.
Earlier this month, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performed the world premiere of Derksen’s Still Here. The work was composed through sessions spent with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis clients of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Shkaabe Makwa centre, as part of CAMH’s Art of Healing Program. The program explores new and culturally grounded ways to approach mental health.
It was typical of Derksen’s oeuvre in that it was both meaningful and impactful.
“It is a piece about humanity,” she wrote in a media statement, “living in cities, being surrounded and feeling alone, finding the magic in the mundane, getting excited about getting somewhere, feeling the empathy of humanity, the rhythm of the streets, pausing the chaos to listen to the sounds of our urban birds cousins, remembering where we came from,” and more. She dedicates it to “all who feel alone surrounded by others.”
Her most recent album The Visit was released in 2025:
Final Thoughts
Derksen’s passing leaves a dark gap in Canada’s music scene. Cris made her message both accessible and poignant through her commitment to artistry, and to making her Cree heritage part of our nation’s cultural landscape.
She will be greatly missed.
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