The Canadian League of composers is shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen.
Cris was one of the most important compositional voices working in Canada today, bending and redefining genres while striving to make the world of classical music a better place. Through her work founding the Indigenous Classical Gathering at the Banff Centre for the Arts and serving as the Artistic Advisor for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, she worked tirelessly to make classical music more reflective of Canada’s diverse population, kicking open the doors for countless BIPOC composers and performers.
Cris’s contribution to the CLC has been substantial. In addition to serving on multiple juries in recent years, she was the first composer selected for the CLC’s ISCM Indigenous Commissioning project. Her work, “the bells” for solo piano and electronics, was premiered in Vancouver by Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, included as part of the Canadian Section’s submission to the 2023 World New Music Days Festival in South Africa, and ultimately selected to be part of the festival. In 2024, Cris was awarded the Friends of Canadian Music Award in recognition of her profound impact on Canada’s compositional community.
“The ISCM Canadian Section was deeply enriched by its collaborations with Cris Derksen. She was extremely generous in her commitment to the music of her peers while also exacting and direct in her feedback. She was a joyous presence on any jury, gregarious and full of integrity. We are so honoured that her CLC-commissioned work “the bells” represented Canada at the World New Music Days 2023 in South Africa, and that its wonderful performance by her collaborator and friend Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa is recorded and available for posterity. She was an incredible artist as both a cellist and composer, and a wonderful colleague and community member. To refer to Cris in the past tense is a tremendous challenge, and her absence will be sorely felt by both us at the Canadian Section and in the community at large.
With an abundance of gratitude for Cris and sorrow for her passing,“
-Bekah Simms, ISCM Canadian Section President
On behalf of the entire CLC community, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to Cris’ collaborators, friends, and loved ones.
