Cris Derksen — The Visit
Music production for Juno-nominated two-spirit Cree cellist Cris Derksen — a Carnegie Hall performer whose work bridges Indigenous tradition, classical training, and electronic experimentation.
Role
Role
Music Production
Artist
Year
2025
The Story
Cris Derksen is a two-spirit Cree cellist who has performed at Carnegie Hall, composed for the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and built a body of work that moves fluidly between Indigenous ceremony, classical composition, and electronic production. She's a Juno-nominated artist and one of Canada's most important living musicians.
The Visit is a record that required a production approach as layered and shape-shifting as Cris herself — moments of raw solo cello sitting alongside electronic textures, field recordings, and orchestral swells. My role was to help build the sonic architecture around her performances without ever overshadowing the cello at the centre of everything.
Working with Cris connects directly to the thread that runs through my installation work — Indigenous knowledge, land, ceremony, and the sonic expression of cultural identity. Her music and the sound design I created for the Indigenous Peoples Experience live in the same emotional and philosophical space.