Denise Djokic

As a soloist, Denise has performed with most of Canada's major orchestras, including the Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec, Calgary, and Edmonton Symphonies, as well as Montreal's Orchestre Metropolitain and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Internationally, she has performed with orchestras including the North Carolina Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Aachen (Germany), The Academic Orchestra of Zürich (Switzerland), and Amazonas Philharmonic (Brazil).

Denise has received numerous distinctions including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and nomination for the Oskar Morawetz Award. She has been named one of the top "25 Canadians Who Are Changing Our World" by Maclean's Magazine, one of "Canada's Most Powerful Women" by Elle Magazine, and won first prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. She was a featured performer at the 2002 GRAMMY Awards, where she opened for Train with solo Bach and joined them in "Drops of Jupiter."

Committed to contemporary music and diverse voices, her Lincoln Center debut featured Arturo Marquez's "Espejos en la Arena" with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. Her Carnegie Hall debut featured John Estacio's Triple Concerto with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Recent collaborations have showcased works by Texu Kim, Augusta Read Thomas, and Steven Mackey.

Denise is a member of Ensembl'Arts, Canada's first cultural organization bringing together music, dance and visual arts. She has collaborated with Ballet Victoria, Atlantic Ballet Theatre, and Seattle's Spectrum Dance.
Her award-winning discography includes Chopin and Rachmaninov sonatas with pianist David Jalbert (ATMA) and the complete Britten Solo Suites for Cello. Her debut CD received the 2002 East Coast Music Award and her album Folklore received a JUNO nomination.

Denise is on faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and teaches at summer festivals including the Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music, and Bowdoin International Festival of Music. She began her training in Halifax, Nova Scotia, studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and completed her Undergraduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory. She now resides in Urbana, Illinois, with her family.