Classical music gets a boost of Indigenous energy in upcoming performance of the Amadeus Choir

Updated May 17 at 2 p.m. (Alberta time).

Cris Derksen, Indigenous cellist and composer, died in a motor vehicle accident in northern Alberta May 15. Derksen and wife Rebecca Benson were reportedly travelling home from Derksen’s father’s funeral. It's been reported that Benson was left in critical condition in hospital.

This article is being updated with a statement from Kathleen Allan, artistic director of Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and Chorus Niagara:

We are devastated by the loss of Cris Derksen. Cris was an extraordinary artist, visionary composer and deeply generous human being whose work had a way of exposing raw and difficult truths while leading with compassion, humanity, and hope. Her music challenged audiences to listen more deeply to one another and to the world around us, and to take meaningful action to create change beyond the concert stage.

Working with Cris on the commissioning, premiere, and subsequent performance of Mass for Nîpîy: A Prayer for Water was one of the most transformative artistic experiences of my career and a defining moment for the Amadeus Choir community. What began as a work centred on Indigenous water sovereignty evolved, through Cris’s vision, into a universal call for collective responsibility, protection and care for one another and for the world we share. That message, and the spirit with which Cris carried it, remains more urgent and meaningful than ever.

Just days before her passing, Cris joined the Amadeus Choir in Toronto for a landmark performance alongside Andrew Balfour and Sherryl Sewepagaham, a concert that at the time, many of us recognized as life-changing, and is now even more profound in retrospect. In the days since, our community has spoken again and again about the responsibility we now carry to ensure this music continues to be heard. We will carry Cris’s message forward with deep gratitude and a renewed passion for continuing her work.

On May 25, I am scheduled to conduct selections from Mass for Nîpîy at Carnegie Hall. The entire concert will now be dedicated to Cris’s memory and presented in her honour. Though this loss is immeasurable, Cris’s voice will remain at the centre of this work, and her vision and music will continue to resonate far beyond that stage.

Our hearts are with Cris’s wife, Rebecca, and with their entire family and community during this unimaginably difficult time. We are holding them in our thoughts. 

We extend our deepest condolences to all who knew, loved and were inspired by Cris Derksen.

Original story: 

A performance of the works of Indigenous composers Andrew Balfour, Cris Derksen and Sherryl Sewepagaham by the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto will be staged May 9 in the city.

Wanuskewin: Seeking Peace of Mind begins at 7:30 p.m. at The Playground located at 388 Carlaw Ave. The performance will explore themes of reconciliation and harmony through a blend of contemporary choral music with Indigenous storytelling, cultural expression and artistic collaboration.

“It’s pretty unique to have these three really important voices in the same room performing together with a hundred voice choir and a chamber ensemble,” said award-winning Canadian conductor Kathleen Allan. “It’s a really exciting event. It’s going to be like no concert I’ve ever conducted before. The music itself is really powerful.”

Allan has been commissioning, programming and championing music by Indigenous composers for many years.

“We are not an all-Indigenous choir. We are made up of people from all different walks of life from all over Toronto,” Allan said. “But this concert includes works by three Indigenous composers, including a large work from Cris Derksen that we commissioned from Chris in 2020… It was premiered in 2023. The other two composers are Andrew Balfour, who is Cree, grew up in Winnipeg, but has lived in Toronto for a long time, and Sherryl Sewepagaham, who is from northern Alberta and Cree Dene and now lives in Calgary.”

Those working in the classical music tradition are actively re-examining whose stories are told on stages across Canada. As a conductor, Allan is reshaping programming to be more socially relevant.

She is the artistic director of the Amadeus Choir and Chorus Niagara, as well as a faculty member at the University of Toronto. Allan is recognized for her work in contemporary and symphonic music circles and has conducted major ensembles, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. She’s built a reputation as a composer and soprano and has performed internationally.

“I personally believe strongly in decolonizing the classical music sphere, and I ‘ve just sort of walked into attempts to do that in hopes of learning and collaborating and doing what we can to provide a stage for those stories to be told,” Allan explained. 

Allan said the Amadeus Choir’s exploration of contemporary and underrepresented voices has become an important artistic direction. The initiative reflects a broader effort to reconsider the traditional “masterworks” associated with such composers as Handel and Beethoven to examine stories and perspectives that haven’t historically been prioritized in classical music programming.

The approach aims to create performances that are more inclusive and culturally relevant to modern audiences by highlighting living composers and works connected to contemporary experiences. This will broaden the scope of classical music while presenting programs that resonate more directly with audiences and reflect a wider range of narratives, Allan said.

Derksen will play cello for the performance of her piece titled Mass for Nîpîy: A Prayer for Water. Spoken word poetry will also be performed. Balfour will be conducting a piece, and Sewepagaham will perform a solo and play drum.

 Allan said the idea for the performance came about “organically”. She knew she wanted to showcase Derksen’s commissioned piece, but this time with a full orchestra.

Amadeus Choir has commissioned a piece from Balfour and is in discussions for a future commissioned piece from Sewepagaham.

“It's been a really special experience to collaborate with all three of them. And they all have some amount of a relationship with each other as well,” Allan said. “Bringing those real leaders in the Canadian classical music community, who all happen to be Indigenous, together in the same concert is pretty unique.”

Derksen said she is very close to both Balfour and Sewepagaham and is thrilled to be sharing the stage for such a momentous performance.

“I’m really excited to hang out with my friends, number one, but obviously their work is so beautiful,” said Derksen. “And (Allan’s) focus is really keen on bringing in Indigenous artists and composers and having that contemporary art mixed in, and I think that’s really unique for someone to want to do that and to be choosing people that fit what she’s doing.”

“When I first started writing (Mass for Nîpîy) I really thought it was going to be about Canadian water sovereignty, but then when I was researching it, it kind of became clear that it’s not just our water, it’s the global water that is struggling,” said Derksen. “It talks about home and it talks about the world.”

Derksen said she spent a lot of time researching each of the seven movements to create the larger 20-minute piece. 

“The second movement is titled “Prayer for Poisoned Waters”, and it’s literally talking about Canada and what we’ve done to our waters, and in this movement I speak and I talk about Treaty 9, the James Bay Treaty, because this is what we have most obvious to us… which is in Ontario where I currently live,” she said.

When the treaty was being drafted, three individuals were brought to examine the land, one being a geologist, Derksen explained.

“The reason why they brought the geologist, (it) was specifically so the geologist would know where not to put reservations on any place that had potential, like water power, or hydro dams, or mining … This is a whole part of the whole thing of our treaties and how we were lied to,” Derksen said.

Following the May 9 performance of the Amadeus Choir, Allan will set off to Carnegie Hall in New York where the New England Symphonic Ensemble will conclude its May 25 Memorial Day program of contemporary choral works with Allan conducting a performance of Derksen’s and Balfour’s works. 

For more information or to purchase tickets visit Wanuskewin - Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto