Cris Derksen

September 17 | 7:00pm | Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
$15-$20

In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — get labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta she comes from a line of chiefs from North Tall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. She’s a classically trained cellist and composer whose music braids the traditional and contemporary. Derksen weaves her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.
 
So — she is kind of in a category all her own.
 
For her third studio album, Orchestral Powwow, Cris paired up with Tribal Spirit music, traveled, researched, worked and collaborated with powwow groups to create a cinematically symphonic and truly Indigenous album. In her words “What excites me most about this project is bringing our Indigenous music to the center of the European model and we as Indigenous artists lead the way with our drums and our heart beat to create new forms of music.” She expresses the intersections between the old and the new. The album was nominated for 2016 Instrumental Juno album of the year. 
 
This is a singular artist creating music that challenges, enlightens and it’s uniquely powerful. Cris is thrilled to be back at Prismatic for the second year in a row. 

Box office phone number: (902) 494-3820 | 1.800.874.1669