Indigenous cellist and composer Cris Derksen dead after car crash

CALGARY, AB - APRIL 02: Cris Derksen attends the 2016 Juno Gala Dinner And Awards at the Telus Convention Center on April 2, 2016 in Calgary, Canada. (Photo by George Pimentel/Getty Images)

Juno-nominated Indigenous cellist and composer Cris Derksen has died.

AIM Booking Agency, which represents Derksen, says in a social media post she died in a car accident but no further information about the crash was included.

A biography of Derksen on the National Arts Centre website says she hailed from northern Alberta and that her music weaved “her classical background and Indigenous ancestry with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.”

Derksen told the Penticton Herald in an interview earlier this month that she was living in Ontario.

Kathleen Allan, artistic director of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and Chorus Niagara, says she recently worked with Derksen and her death has left many devasted.

Allan says Derksen’s music challenged audiences to listen more deeply to one another, and to take meaningful action to create change beyond the concert stage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2026.

The Canadian Press