Let world-renowned Indigenous cellist Cris Derksen give you a concert from their living room
The lush 'New Heya' was part of our virtual cabaret Queer Pride Inside
CBC Arts Presents Queer Pride Inside: A Buddies in Bad Times Cabaret was a virtual cabaret featuring over a dozen LGBTQ Canadian artists that CBC Arts produced in partnership with Buddies in Bad Times this past June in celebration of Pride Month. Over the course of the summer, we'll be highlighting some of the individual performances that were included in the cabaret.
We are very lucky to have Cris Derksen. Originally from the North Tall Cree reserve in Northern Alberta, the Juno-nominated artist is an internationally renowned cellist and composer known for their unique sound that blends traditional Indigenous music with classical music. Derksen's music has often been described as "electronic cello" or classical traditional fusion, and they have also dipped their foot into the worlds of choral, symphonic, film, theatre and dance.
CBC Arts and Buddies in Bad Times were honoured for Derksen to join us for our virtual cabaret Queer Pride Inside. Performing cello and electronics in their living room with a "newish" piece called "New Heya," it was a lovely addition to our night of celebrating queer artists during a summer where Pride could not quite happen the way we wanted it to.
If you enjoyed the performance, you can listen to more of Derksen's work here (they've released three albums: 2010's The Cusp, 2013's The Collapse and 2015's Juno-nominated Orchestral Powow Project). You can also follow them to find out about upcoming performances, whether virtual or (hopefully soon enough) in person.
See CBC Arts Presents Queer Pride Inside: A Buddies in Bad Times Cabaret in its entirety on CBC Gem.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
