Canadian cellist Denise Djokic first began to learn the cello with her uncle and aunt, cellists Pierre Djokic and Michelle Djokic. Her parents, Lynn and Philippe, as well as her brother, Marc, are all musicians. Denise furthered her studies in Cleveland with Richard Aaron, and in Boston, where she studied with Laurence Lesser and Paul Katz.

An acclaimed soloist with many principle orchestras, she has appeared with the Toronto Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Portland Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Mexico City''s Orquesta Filharmonica UNAM, as well as the symphony orchestras of Vancouver, Omaha, Montreal, Winnipeg, Syracuse, Missoula, Santa Cruz, Brazil''s Amazonas Philharmonic, and many others across the continent. She has performed with such renowned conductors as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Darko Butorac, Bernhard Gueller, Andrew Litton, Grant Llewellyn,

As a recitalist, Denise performs with her long-time musical partner, pianist David Jalbert. They have performed together in Washington, D.C. at the Phillips Collection and Museum of Women in the Arts, in San Francisco, Cologne, Mexico City, Vancouver, at Chicago''s Dame Myra Hess series and New York''s Bargemusic, as well as many other cities throughout North America. Denise and David also tour with Piano Plus, an organization which brings performances to rural communities in Canada. Denise''s love of chamber music brings her to many festivals each year, including the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Caramoor, Park City, Ravinia, San Miguel de Allende, and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival. She also performs with New York''s Omega Ensemble and the Jupiter Chamber Players.

Immediately following the release of her debut recording on the Sony Classical label, Denise was a featured performer at the 2002 Grammy Awards. The self-titled CD won great critical acclaim and received a 2002 East Coast Music Award. Her following recording, "Folklore", (Allegro/Endeavor) received a JUNO nomination as well as an ECMA, and hit the Billboard Chart''s top 15 Classical CD''s. "Folklore" was also featured on NPR''s "All Things Considered". Denise has recently recorded the complete Britten Solo Suites for the ATMA label.

Denise has been the subject of a BRAVO! TV documentary entitled "Seven Days, Seven Nights", which followed her through a week-long recital tour. She has also been a speaker at IdeaCity in Toronto, and was a keynote speaker at the Queen''s Women In Leadership Conference. Denise was named by MacLean''s Magazine as one of the top "25 Canadians who are Changing our World", and by ELLE Magazine as one of "Canada''s Most Powerful Women".