drɔ-ˈki ˈow-ɾʊ
Composer | Researcher | Music Technologist | Educator
| Droki Ouro is a composer, researcher, educator, and audio engineer based in Knoxville, TN. Described as “patiently evocative” (George Lewis), “unsettling [yet] interesting” (Cycling ‘74), and “lyrical, distant, and eerie” (EarRelevant), Ouro’s music longs for the allure of balance and introspection. Their compositions include solo, chamber, and large ensemble music, stereo, multi-channel, and ambisonic fixed media, and intersectional collaborations. Their recent works engage with temporality and disability masking as an apparatus for electronic composition. Upcoming projects include a new work for piano and electronics for the Hear & Now Commission (Westminster University), a septet for the Brightfire Collective, and a digital opera fusing corporate math with screamo, free jazz, and industrial breakcore.
Droki’s composition honors include fellowships with Arraymusic and ensemble vim, commissions from MUSIQA and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, residencies with Arraymusic, Arts Letters & Numbers, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and prizes from the Ensemble Ibis Composition Competition, Foundation for Modern Music’s International Avalon Competition, MAP Composition Competition, National Federation of Music, and Ars Electronica Forum Wallis, among others. Their work has been performed by the Array Ensemble, Braeburn Brass Quintet, Deco Saxophone Quartet, Domino Ensemble, ensemble vim, Robert Black, Lindsay Garritson, and Jacob Mason, among others. Ouro’s music is featured with several record labels including Navona Records, Petrichor Records, and RMN Music.
In previous years, Ouro’s music has been performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Australasian Computer Music Conference, Charlotte New Music Festival, Cube Fest, Diffrazioni, Earth Day Art Model, Ecos Urbanos, Festival DME, jemFEST, International Computer Music Festival (ICMC), International Electroacoustic Music Exhibition, International Trumpet Guild, Manchester Music Festival, New Music Gathering, New York Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), SiMN, Society of Composers, Inc’s National Conference (SCI), Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), Spark Intersectional Music and Art Festival, and the West Fork New Music Festival, among others.
Droki’s research interests are driven primarily by composer advocacy. Their main project entitled Recent Trends in Composition Calls and Competitions distills inequities of the composition competition ecosystem through a statistical analysis of over five-hundred surveyed opportunities. Recent Trends has been presented at numerous events including the Atlantic Music Festival, New Music Gathering, Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC!), and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), and for several forums at Duke University, Montana State University, and Ohio University, among others. At the conclusion of their doctoral studies in 2023, Droki was presented with the University of Miami’s Diversity Advocate Award for Recent Trends. Droki is currently developing and expanding Recent Trends into a four-part resource for the American Composers Forum and writing additional literature for the award-winning multimedia hub, I Care If You Listen.
Droki co-founded the Mississippi Valley Orchestra’s Composer Fellowship, served as the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity for the Millennium Composers Initiative for three years, and previously held teaching positions at the University of Miami, Ohio University, Hocking College, and Eastern Music Camp. Before succumbing to severe temporomandibular joint dysfunction, Droki was a freelance trumpeter and played in the 2017 off-Broadway show Guys and Dolls, Dizzy Gillespie Tribute Band, Phoenix Brass Quintet, RVA Big Band, and most notably as a co-founder of the Largemouth Brass Band. Ouro currently directs the modular laptop ensemble JoULE, improvises with no-input mixers and vocoders, and curates an online multimedia series called New Music Cafe. Ouro also provides affordable composition lessons and consulting opportunities.
Originally from the Washington D.C. area, Droki holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Music in Composition from Ohio University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Droki has studied composition with Lansing McLoskey, Juraj Kojs, Tania Leon, George Lewis, Robert McClure, Allison Cameron, Bruce Russell, and Maria Schneider. Droki is currently an Assistant Professor/Director of Music Technology where they teach courses in computer music programming, sound design, synthesis, instrument modeling, studio recording, audio post-production, digital art, and composition.
During their undergraduate degree, they were a ghostwriter for two Triple-A video game companies and co-opted Droki Ouro and Todroki as pseudonyms. Since 2023, they have continued as Droki Ouro in their creative and research pursuits, but otherwise go by their civilian name. Droki is a foodie, racquetball player, wannabe tea sommelier, and a former Top 200 player in Pokemon Showdown’s [Gen 7] Monotype. Ouro enjoys feeding their backyard birds (especially white-breasted nuthatches), gratuitous strength training (not cardio), and cooking for the fam.