05/01/2026
Cree composer-cellist Cris Derksen, one of the featured artists in our Shaking the Foundations exhibit, is shaking up the classical music world. From the Globe & Mail: “She recently scored Cikilaxwm: Controlled Burn, Cameron Fraser-Monroe’s new dance for Ballet Kelowna in British Columbia, where it will debut this week. The ballet was inspired by her symphonic piece Controlled Burn, commissioned by Canada’s superstar conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin for Montreal’s Metropolitan Orchestra. Derksen played cello when the piece was performed at Carnegie Hall in 2023. On May 25, three movements of Derksen’s Mass for Nipiy: A Prayer For Water, a choral piece from 2023 commissioned by Toronto’s Amadeus Choir, will be presented at the same famed New York venue.”
